Hybrid Diamond
by flying werecats
Summary: There's a new girl at Scare School, but she isn't just anyone...With a terrible past and a horde of secrets behind her,can she and her new friends overcome the decision of the most powerful and influential creature in the Underworld?NOT ThatchxOC, sorry!
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One: Hybrid Enrolled**_

It was a fairly normal day at the Scare School, if one could rightly call ANY day at the Scare School normal. First period had ended, and all the creatures were herding themselves to their next class, books in hand. (Or tentacle, wing, talon, or fin, as the case may be.) A lone creature girl stood alone in one of the hallways, only vaguely aware that the bell signaling the end of first had just rung. She was studying her surroundings intently, particularly the framed picture of a menacing former student, a small, furry monster with sharp teeth, glowing eyes, and sharp spikes growing along its spine.

The walls were red brick, yet they looked remarkably like red paint from a distance. The floor was tile, patterned with alternating white and purple. The windows were large, and the light that streamed from them highlighted the lime green stripes of her hair. The tall ceiling was apparently something she was already used to, as she did nothing more than glance upward for the briefest moment. She could hear the students swarming towards the hallway she now occupied, but the sound was only heard in the back of her mind by some unconscious portion of her brain. She walked slowly along the length of the wall, taking in all the details. The design and the way the structure was built meant more to her than the decorations and coloring; anyone can decorate, but not everyone can built a stable structure to last the centuries the Scare School was required to serve.

"Hey! Who're you? You don't go to our school!" A male voice shouted at her. She sighed inwardly at having been interrupted, but knew she would have plenty of time later to check things out. And besides, she told herself, the interruption had been unavoidable.

"Not yet; why?" She asked casually, staring straight into the violet eyes of the rival creature. He seemed taken aback at her response. Did he really expect her to be afraid? _Her_? She almost laughed at the notion, but remained cool and collected outwardly.

"Who _are_ you?" He repeated uncertainly. He appeared to be struggling with a difficult decision... Whether or not she was friend or foe, and whether or not he should treat her as such. Granted, both forms of treatment were likely the same.

"Hey. You must be new here," Another voice cut in, and she looked over to see a pair of light blue eyes, filled with warmth and welcome. His entire body was more or less transparent: A ghost. With him was another creature girl, with deep blue hair, greenish skin, and purple eyes, darker than the more hostile male that had first called her attention from her contemplations. She wore a hot pink T-shirt with a daisy flower in the center, and appeared to have a second, dark brown shirt underneath. Her sneakers were black with white rubber underneath and the purple sleeves of her pants hovered just above them, threatening to show her ankle. A zombie. With her was a boy wrapped from head to toe in bandages, excluding the eyes, part of the nose, and his mouth. On his head was a black beanie with a gold pendant in the center. He wore a gold beetle medallion around his neck, and blue-and-goldenrod shorts: A mummy, clearly. All this the new girl discerned at a glance.

Looking back at the first male, she noticed a black and red cape, white shirt, a belt, black-and-white sneakers, and black sweatpants with a silver chain adorning the right pocket. His skin was pale, his fangs sharp, and his black hair sported two twin white stripes toward the front. Another vampire, she noted to herself. And probably a pretty mean one, at that... Typical.

"Yeah, I was just looking around, checking everything out, giving myself a tour. You've got a nice school, actually," She addressed the ghost, whom she had heard enough about to assume was the notoriously friendly Casper. This was done to the annoyance of the other vampire, whom she had also heard about: Thatch.

"Um... Thank you?" The reply was grateful, but undecided. The zombie and mummy seemed to be sizing her up. She could almost imagine what they were both thinking... _Who's she? Is she going to be as bad as Thatch?_ She smiled at the three, flashing them her own smaller, but even sharper fangs. Yes, she was yet another blood sucker at the famous creature school, an ordinary vampire. Or at least, she appeared that way at a glance. Her blood red eyes watched the students curiously. Others were looking at her as well, but they continued on their way. They had places to be, classes to get to. No one wanted to be tardy, but these four had gone out of their way to stop and investigate.

"So, what's your name? Why are you here?" Asked the zombie.

"Why do you think? I'm going to be enrolled here. Or maybe I should say, I'm _already_ enrolled here, I'm just not supposed to know it. My uncle said we were just looking around, but I'm smarter than that. He's been trying to get me to go here for quite awhile. Now that he thinks he's tricked me here, he won't let me leave,"

"Who's your uncle?" The mummy questioned eagerly.

"Uncle K, of course," She answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She beamed at the other creatures' confused faces. "I was only going to stay for a few days, but I knew enough to pack everything I'd need to stay on for the rest of the school year. Not that it was very hard, but still..." She shrugged.

"Great! You seem nice enough, maybe you could hang out with us. I'm Casper..." He gestured to himself, and she nodded, mostly to herself because she had already known. "...This is Mantha..." He pointed to the zombie. "...And that's Ra," He finished his introduction with the mummy. Each of his friends waved as he said their names.

"And I'm Thatch. You still haven't answered my question. Who are you?" The vampire announced himself with flourish. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"My name's Ashia. Ashia Marie Kyrier,"

"Okay then. Welcome to Scare School, Ashia!" Casper smiled happily at having met a new potential friend, but Thatch seemed unimpressed and annoyed. He wasn't used to being ignored, especially by a girl, a female vampire no less! Why wasn't she clamoring for his attention?

"Thanks. By the way, there's going to be an announcement soon, so don't worry about being late for class,"

"How do you know that?" Ra asked.

"You'll see," She said with a grin, knowing the answer would only make him all the more curious.

"Why won't you tell us?" Mantha stared at her suspiciously. She merely shrugged once more.

"You'll see," She repeated cheerfully. Suddenly, just as she realized they were the only ones left in the hallway, a loud voice boomed from out of nowhere,

"Ashia? Ashia Marie Kyrier!" Everyone else cringed at the familiar tone, but Ashia stood firm, scowling in the direction of the voice. A bulky green ghost flew around the corner, frowning at the vampire girl. The leader of the Underworld himself! Kibosh!

"What?" She expressed her annoyance and frustration clearly and openly, not in the timid way most creatures did whenever Kibosh was around. They all stared at her with a mixture of shock, horror, admiration, and awe.

"Where were you? You're supposed to be getting ready for the announcement!"

"Well, you _said_ I should check out the school, I'm only doing what I was told!" Ashia retorted with a huff. Kibosh bristled with anger. Taking a deep breath to control himself, he went on to say,

"Ashia, I thought we already went over this..."

"I **tried**, but YOU wouldn't listen!" The girl's fists clenched at her sides with rage. The adult ghost sighed.

"Ashia..."

"NO! It isn't FAIR, Uncle Kibosh!"

"UNCLE Kibosh?" All four fellow students exclaimed in unison. They were paid a fleeting glance, and then nothing.

"I've told you before, neither of us has a choice!"

"You always have a choice! Maybe the second isn't much of one, but there's always a choice!" She argued.

"Precisely, the second choice in this situation just isn't reasonable!"

"THEN MAKE IT REASONABLE, YOU'RE KING OF THE UNDERWORLD!"

"Ashia!"

"WHAT?" Her voice did not lower to anything less than a shout, despite her uncle's disapproving stare. "WHAT? So, I'm actually expected to LIKE this? To AGREE with all of it? NO!"

"Oh, come on! What happened to my sweet little niece?"

"She died," Ashia stated simply, eyes half-lidded in an unimpressed expression.

"But WHY? Why can't we get along anymore? Why do we have to fight so constantly? It seems like you don't even want to look at me anymore!"

"That's... Because... I, HATE YOU, UNCLE KIBOSH!" With that, Ashia spun on her heel and disappeared through the wall. That's right... _Through_ the wall. Kibosh sighed again, rubbing his transparent temple as though he now had a headache. Who knew? Maybe he did.

"_What_ am I going to do with her?" He muttered. "She _knows_ I have no choice, but she just won't listen!"

"Kibosh, sir? What exactly is it you don't have a choice about?" Casper asked. Kibosh stared at him silently for a moment.

"You'll see. For now, be ready for the announcement," And the Leader of the Underworld disappeared through the floor, leaving a very confused ghost, mummy, zombie, and vampire behind him.

~~~~Minutes Later~~~~

All the students of the Scare School were present for the announcement, and the ones who hadn't passed Ashia in the hallway earlier were watching her and studying her, discussing in low voices (that she could hear anyways) who she was and what she was doing there. Ashia herself remained impassive and bored as she looked around her, playing her own little game with herself. She scanned the crowd of students, trying to catch someone's eye. Whenever she succeeded, they would blush and look away quickly, just another piece of evidence that told her they were talking about _her_. It was something she was used to, and the game at least gave her something to do. The hall was by far more interesting than this.

"Students of the Scare School, please welcome, Kibosh! Ruler of the Underworld," The Headmasters, Alder and Dash, said into the microphone. The brothers were a two-headed creature with grey skin who, she decided, apparently only had one brain between the two of them. They argued frequently, from what she had seen, but always stopped when her uncle was within hearing distance. She remembered him telling her he kept them around for entertainment purposes as well as for the school itself. She could definitely see why!

"As some of you already know, I am here today to introduce a very special new addition to your school. She is already enrolled, and will be starting her classes immediately," The ghost seemed a little disappointed when his niece did not seem in the least surprised, but then again, he supposed he should have known. "Everyone, please welcome my niece, Ashia Marie Kyrier!" With a roll of her eyes, Ashia stepped forward as she had been previously instructed.

"My name is Ashia, and I am the 3-way hybrid," There was a collective gasp among the students.

"But wait, don't you mean A 3-way hybrid?" Casper's voice rang.

"No, I'm sure there are others with three separate genes, but they would be Tri-brids, Triple Hybrids, not 3-way hybrids. You see, my father was a vampire, but my mother was a werewolf-ghost hybrid. And it's through my father that I'm related to this big fat jerk," She jerked her thumb in Kibosh's direction, causing everyone to gasp again.

"Can you fly? When you're not a bat, I mean," Someone yelled.

"Yes," She answered with a smile. "I can also go through walls and cause objects and occasionally other people to go through walls, too. And Uncle K here taught me how to control lightning,"

"If you're part werewolf, what happens on a full moon?" Mantha inquired thoughtfully. Ashia shook her head sadly.

"The polar opposite of what you would expect. You'll just have to wait and see," Kibosh put a hand on his niece's shoulder (She tried to shake him off, but to no avail.) and added,

"If you see anyone, _anyone_, wearing her amulet, creature or not, DO NOT ATTACK. That's an order. Do you all understand? Ashia, show them your amulet," The vampire hesitated, then did what she was told, and reached into her pocket to reveal a strong, grey cord sporting a black onyx medallion. In the center of this medallion a diamond shaped hole stood surrounded by eight sapphires cut in diamond shapes and set into the onyx pointing outwards facing each direction, north, south, east, west, north-east, north-west, south-east, and south-west. The medallion itself was around the size of her hand, if not smaller, so it wasn't terribly big, but it still stood out against her pale skin and an emerald green shirt.

What the students of the Scare School saw standing before them was a rather pretty vampire with bright, blood red eyes and unusually small, sharper fangs, of which there were many, though four were considerable longer than the others, two on top and two on bottom. Her hair was long and straight, and was striped, alternating between a dark, almost black purple and an almost neon lime green. Her shirt was emerald green, as previously mentioned, and she wore light, slightly worn blue jeans. She had silver and emerald colored sneakers. Her cape was the usual red and black, styled much like Thatch's. In fact, it seemed only vampires could ever tell the difference between different types of capes, just like only girls ever seem able to tell apart their bras.

"You see this? She will _always_ have it on her person, so if she shows it to you, whether it looks like her or not, IT IS. Do NOT TOUCH her. Of course, you should be able to recognize her as a general rule; this mainly applies to the night of a full moon and about a week after. The moonlight still coursed through her long after the full moon has waned. Be forewarned,"

"So, she goes crazy for a week instead of a night and half a day?" Thatch confirmed.

"No," Ashia stated firmly. "I stay in control. I do NOT go crazy! But I'm still affected...Still affected by an inborn, inbred curse..." She stared off into space, seeing nothing, and her hand clenched around the amulet. She absentmindedly slipped the cord around her neck and continued to clutch the amulet as if for reassurance.

"By the way, Ashia is part of an arranged marriage, so you would be wise to keep your hands off her. Since it's obvious you already knew you would be staying here, I assume you have everything you need?" Kibosh checked. Ashia nodded.

"Always," She said with a sly grin, patting her pocket. No one was really sure what she meant, but they had to believe from her tone of voice that somehow, she knew something they didn't. She wasn't lying. She had everything with her, always, and she kept it in her pocket apparently, impossible as it seemed.

"Well, then, I guess I'll just be leaving," Suddenly the ruler of the Underworld didn't seem so sure of himself. But he left anyways. For a moment, everyone just stared at Ashia, waiting for her to do something. She blinked back at them for several seconds before shrugging, and suddenly disappearing, the way ghosts do so often. Of course, seeing a vampire do the same was a little shocking. But considering this was _Kibosh's_ niece, as far as they knew, she could do anything!

~~~~Later~~~~

Ashia glanced down at her schedule, and her heart skipped a beat. Science! Hallelujah! She beamed happily, folded the paper into quarters, and tucked it away in her pocket. Looking up, she spotted yet another student she had heard much about... And admired. Unfortunately, her blissful peace was interrupted, _yet again_, by a certain vampire she was beginning to _really_ dislike. An arm slid around her shoulders and she turned her head to find herself face to face with none other than Thatch himself. He smirked. She rolled her eyes and ducked away. Thatch frowned. _That_ wasn't normal! He tried again. This time she froze and growled,

"Remove your arm from my shoulder before I remove it from your body," He hastily backed off, and she quickly turned into a bat and flew towards the science room... And the student she so admired.

"Hey!" She called. The werewolf turned his head, and she landed, a vampire again, beside him. "You're Wolfie, right? The one that did the moonlight experiment?"

"U-um, yes. Why?"

"I LOVED THAT! I've heard so much about it, about _you_, I'm just glad I'm not the only one!"

"Only one what?" Wolfie asked, confused.

"The only one who experiments with moonlight!" She grinned. "Of course, I've never gotten that close to catching it before. Are you planning on retrying the experiment?"

"Not really; it caused a lot of problems,"

"But you can't quit! You're the only one who's ever managed to catch it, even if it was temporary! And besides, I think I know what went wrong," As soon as she said this, Wolfie's ears perked up.

"Really? What?"

"Moonlight is pretty much unlimited, right? And it's pretty powerful..." He nodded, obviously thinking of that one day every month when he had to sit... Alone... In the corner. "Well, obviously the moonlight overflowed..."

"But I used an infinity box! And infinity mirrors!"

"Yes, but there's an infinity of moonlight, too!" She pointed out, and he blinked.

"Yeah, I guess you're right..."

"Anyway, your project didn't have a timer, did it? It didn't just collect a certain amount and then shut off?"

"I never thought of that! If it was timed, the infinity box wouldn't BE trying to collect an infinity of moonlight! And it would never overflow!"

"Exactly! I guess when moonlight affects you, you tend to care more about that sort of thing, most people just don't understand," Ashia frowned sadly, and Wolfie nodded understandingly. Casper was kind enough to _try_ and understand, but he was a ghost, and like everybody else, moonlight, unless concentrated like in his experiment, couldn't force its way into his system. That, and it wasn't like Casper HAD any blood for the moonlight to seep into...

"So you'd rather talk to losers like him than me, huh?" Snapped Thatch angrily. Ashia bared her fangs at him menacingly. "You can't scare me! I'M the one who does the scaring around here!"

"The only person YOU could ever scare is yourself!" She retorted. "Besides, you're right... I would MUCH rather talk to Wolfie than you! Granted, I would talk to rock before I bothered striking a conversation with YOU, but that's beside the point,"

"Grrrrr... I can make the afterlife _miserable_ for you, you know!"

"And I can make yours even worse," She replied. "After all, I AM Kibosh's niece, and some of the same power HE has runs through my veins," She then flashed him a brilliant, cheerful smile and said, "Have a nice day, moron!" Tugging a stunned Wolfie towards the classroom with her, she left the other vampire gaping after her in disbelief.

"B-but... But... NOBODY talks to Thatch that way!" Wolfie stammered.

"Heh. But I'M the 3-way hybrid! I'm different, to say the least!" She glanced down at her amulet and added quietly, "In more ways than one," Curious, but feeling it wouldn't be a good idea to press further, Wolfie walked away to find a seat, and Ashia eagerly snapped herself up one in the front, with as much energy as a little kid standing in front of the ice-cream truck with five dollars in hand. Gradually, the rest of the class joined them, including Thatch, who glared at Ashia but said nothing. When the teacher entered, Wolfie couldn't see Ashia's face, but had a pretty good idea what it looked like, because what he could see was the way she sat bolt upright. He chuckled quietly. She sure was enthusiastic about science!

"Ah, Ashia, pleasure to have you in my class. I am Professor Thirddegree Burns, and today, we will be entering the world of audio, and sound, the different noises that can be made to scare, and the reason, that they cause fleshies, to be frightened..."

"_It sounds like it'll all be rubbish, but still... Heh. I love the teacher's accent! Thirddegree Buuuuuuurns..._" Ashia thought to herself. The teacher was a red-scaled dragon, with a well-rounded, but nonetheless arrowhead, tail with glasses and a white sweat shirt. Tendrils of smoke curled toward the ceiling from his nostrils, and he spoke with an accent, which she liked immediately. Then again, he DID teach Science, she couldn't really NOT like him.

Her classmates appeared bored, but Ashia listened with ever-growing interest. She knew the information wasn't entirely correct, but that only served to amuse her. She jotted down her favorite parts of the lecture, and asked occasional questions. She knew she didn't really have to raise her hand to talk, but she did so anyway out of respect for the other students. (She also despised being treated special for her family line.) After class, she approached the teacher with a wide smile and gleaming eyes.

"Professor Burns, sir?"

"You may call me Burns. What is it?"

"I have something I think might interest you, if you have time,"

"Time? For the niece of Kibosh himself?" Scoffed the dragon incredulously. "But of course!" Frowning slightly, but still excited, she reached into her pocket...

Wolfie quickened his pace to bring him beside Casper in the hallway. Thatch was still angry about Ashia's behavior, and because it was Wolfie she had actually bothered to talk to, there was a high chance he would blame _him_ for _her_ actions.

"So, saw you talking to the new girl. What's she like? As nice as she seemed before?" Mantha asked.

"I don't know. She seemed nice enough to _me_, but not to Thatch," The brown werewolf glanced back nervously at the vampire, who glared straight back, before turning back to his friends.

"Good for her," The zombie girl nodded approvingly. Several moments later, Ashia herself materialized out of thin air in front of them. They all jumped, but Wolfie leapt nearly three feet in the air.

"Oops, sorry," She giggled. "Didn't mean to startle you..."

"I-it's okay,"

"No, really, I just... Forget sometimes, that not everyone is used to me popping up like that," She smiled warmly at all of them.

"Hi, Ashia. How did you like Science class? Professor Burns can be a little... Off sometimes, but..."

"I know, it's funny really, fleshies know more about our world and the way it works than we do! By the way, my friend's call me Ash. That is, if I had more than one,"

"You only have one friend? I don't believe you," Ra crossed his arms and frowned at her. She shrugged and fell into step beside them.

"I almost never leave the mansion. I got tired of people only wanting to be my friend because of Uncle K, and my looks. In fact, my only friend is... Oh, never mind. Look out, trouble's coming!"

"First you talk to _him_, then you walk with _them_? Just who do think you are?" Thatch fumed. "I've heard of playing hard to get, but this is ridiculous!"

"Shut up, Thatch!"

"I don't have to, can't you see? I'M in charge here!"

"Oh, bite me!" Ashia retorted, vanishing from sight. A moment later, Thatch was whacked in the back of the head by some invisible being. Ashia's laughter filled the hallway, but she remained invisible until reaching her next class... History.

The teacher in this class was a woman's head in a glass ball, and she showed the same respect for Ashia as Mr. Burns. Her hair was wavy and silver, her voice kind and considerate. Like Professor Burns, she liked the teacher immediately.

Unfortunately, history wasn't a very exciting class for her, particularly since she had once run out of things to do and books to read, and had gone through the historical ones in her mansion's library. No, really; she had an actual librarian, too! A very good one, who knew her favorite genres well and could tell what mood she was in just by the book she dropped on the counter.

"...And so, swamp creatures have found swamps and marshes in the Underworld to be far safer and agreeable than those among the fleshies, who drove them back using previously unknown and, clearly, unfair methods. If you turn your textbooks to page 122, you will find..." The teacher, Heady, continued. Sighing inwardly, Ashia couldn't help but think,

"_Like the teacher, not so hot on the subject..._"

But of course, she was enrolled now. Too late to back out and change her mind, go home and tinker around with a bit with science, fetching books to help herself from Rozale. (Her librarian.) No, as an enrolled student, she would just have to put up with it. But Ashia smiled as she thought of Casper, Mantha, Ra, and Wolfie. Things were going to change. Because now, she had 4 more of something very important, that many other people took for granted...

Friends.

(**I LIVE! Heh. Sorry, it's just I've been inactive for what? A year, now? *Sigh* Well, I finally managed to type something up! Can I get a round of applause? No? Fine, be that way... *Grumbles***

**Actually, I've got a lot typed. I just haven't been posting, except for my Fictionpress story, Daughters of Dreams. This story will be the first of a short series. I have the skeleton for the series in my head, but not the details, so I guess I get to join you readers for the ride! No glaring, be nice...**

**And please don't flame, either. If you review, not only will I try to return the favor, but you will get this cookie! - (::) REVIEW! XD**)


	2. Pocket Locket

_**Chapter 2: Pocket Locket **_

Ashia groaned. She was in Gym Class, running and panting alongside Casper and friends, with Thatch sneering at them all for being so slow. Well, all except Mantha, who came close to finishing before the vampire, though he claimed it was only because he wasn't allowed to simply fly around the track.

Frankie, the teacher, was a Frankenstein monster with light bulbs on the side of his head. She found him to be nice enough once you got to know him, but he didn't let up when it came to his class... Which was why she liked him! Even SHE had been specifically told she wouldn't be treated specially in his class! (Although, she suspected he was going easier on her just the same.) She had cheered when he said this, getting a number of weird looks from her classmates and confusing the teacher to the point where he shook his head as if trying to dismiss the thoughts there.

He was apparently going out with Heady. His hair was short and striped with alternating lines of lime and emerald green, his skin itself was green, and his middle was a blue cube with an icon, probably a screaming fleshie, in the center.

Somehow, a student must have accidentally, or perhaps on purpose, kicked a rock into the gym, because it was kicked again and smashed into the wall so hard it sent a shower of sparks down on Mosshead, one of Thatch's so called "friends."

These sparks ignited a flame in his moss-like green hair, and he began to hop up and down, screaming and shouting, swiping at the flame frantically to put it out and stupidly burning his hands. Casper helped to put it out, but by that time Frankie had seen enough.

"Villagers with torches!" He shouted, and smashed through the brick wall. He didn't come back until class was well over.

Of course, the students spent the rest of the class as free time.

"So, he's afraid of fire?" Ashia asked.

"Runs every time he sees it," Ra grinned. "Free period!"

"Guys, it's not funny! He has a real phobia!" Casper scolded.

"Aw, come on, Casper! He runs like a baby every time he sees so much as a flame, even a campfire!" Mantha giggled.

"Ya gotta admit, it's nice to be able to relax and talk," Ashia pointed out with a shrug and a smile. When the bell rang, everyone flooded into the hallway, hungry and headed for lunch.

The lunch lady was a many tentacled she-creature from what you could see of her. She gave Ashia a better lunch than everyone else, but screeched when she protested against the special treatment. However, when the headmasters got lunch, she gave Dash the worst thing she could cook up and treated Alder like she did Ashia, purring the whole time at him. One of her tentacles even straightened his tie. Ashia rushed to sit with her new friends before she had a chance to puke...

"So... Kibosh said something about an arranged marriage..." Mantha began. Ashia had scrunched in between Casper and Ra. Mantha and Wolfie also sat with them, on the other side of the table. Ashia grimaced.

"Yeah. And OF COURSE, I didn't have ANY say in the matter whatsoever!" She growled angrily, and small jolts of electricity ran up and down her spoon. She dropped it hastily, shaking her hand vigorously.

"But, who? And WHY?" Ra asked.

"Some freak named Joey Griffinheart. He's the leader of some rebellion against my uncle, big surprise there!" She rolled her eyes. "They call themselves the "Double Demanders," because they have two opposing sides in the same army, banded together. One side is protesting that creatures be allowed to be meaner, to scare more, and the other side is asking to be allowed to be nicer, to be able to be friendly instead,"

"Really? That's great!" Casper beamed.

"Wait... But what about the balance?" Wolfie's eyes were wide.

"Ah, now you get it! It messes with the balance when things change like that, but since their rebellion is so large now, he hasn't got much of a choice,"

"But what does that have to do with you?"

"Sadly, Griffinheart is very charismatic, and he would turn the ordeal into a matter of honor in order to keep the rebels wound up even IF Uncle K gave them what they wanted. So to avoid his doing that, we have to meet ALL his requirements, and ONE of them..." She paused, and looked around at all their faces. "...Is me,"

"So, he demanded your hand in marriage, and Ki... "Uncle K" ACCEPTED?" Mantha cried, appalled. Ashia nodded grimly. She then made a face of disgust and said,

"What's worse, he has no interest in ANY of my hobbies and his favorite word is 'fabtasticular!'"

"You met him?"

"No, the cheapskate sent a card," The vampire girl took a sip from her drink, which was, of course, blood. Type B+, to be exact.

"What'd it say?"

"Well, it USED to say "Happy Birthday!" until he crossed it out and wrote, "Relatively safe travels, sweetie!" among other things... And he doesn't even KNOW me! He just saw me on the street somewhere! UGH!"

"So THAT'S why you don't like your uncle!" Wolfie decided, and she nodded.

"Precisely. We used to have so much fun together, before... But now..." She trailed away, and stared into space for the second time that day. Her hands moved on their own accord to clutch her amulet, and the others all shared glances.

"You said moonlight affects you differently; how so?" Wolfie asked curiously. Ashia smiled, all too happy to change the subject.

"OH! Well, I'll let you all wait to find out, but I'll tell you this... It'll be VERY unexpected!" She winked cheerfully.

"Just tell us already!" Groaned Ra impatiently.

"RA!" Mantha kicked him under the table.

"OW!" He jumped up and hopped on his good foot, holding his now injured ankle. Ashia giggled.

"Hey, there is one secret I'll let you all in on, if you promise not to tell," Ra immediately sat back down, pain forgotten. Reaching into her pocket again, Ashia produced a locket. It was the classic golden heart locket from storybooks, and inside it, as usual, was a picture. But not just any picture...

Inside was a small family photo, showing an adult male vampire, (Her Dad, Tirosh, Kibosh's brother,) an almost transparent female werewolf, (Her Mom, Scercilla,) Ashia herself, smiling next to a young, silver she-wolf, and someone else...

Tirosh stood beside his wife, looking surprisingly friendly for a vampire, and in front of them were their children, the werewolf in front of her mother and the vampire in front of her father. But in front of them, bent a ways over and grinning straight at the camera, was a FLESHIE!

"B-but, there's a FLE..." Ra began, but Ashia's fingers quickly crackled with electric currents, and she shot a well aimed, mini lightning bolt at his bad foot. He cut himself off with a cry of pain. Everyone turned to stare at him. Mantha managed to smile weakly.

"He was just... Talking about the "free" period we had in Gym today," She lied, and everyone went back to eating and chatting. "Whew..."

"You're related to a _Fleshie_?" The mummy asked more quietly. But she smiled, shook her head, and tapped the picture of the fleshie with one finger. She was a beautiful black girl, Asian with sharp, baby blue, slanted cat-like eyes, and shoulder length black hair, long and straight and thin. Her dark skin made her stand out from the rest of the family, but she still somehow looked like she belonged.

"Her name's Sara Whisper Willow. She's my best, and other than you guys, ONLY friend,"

"You have a fleshie friend, too!" Casper beamed happily. "When can we meet her?"

"Er... I would never bring her HERE, and I live a good ways away, so... I mean, I've lost so many loved ones already, if I lost her, too, I..." Tears brimmed in her eyes, and she wiped them away quickly, embarrassed to cry in public.

"Ashia, what happened?" Mantha's concern showed in her eyes, and she sounded worried.

"Nothing. It's nothing," Clearly, the girl was lying, and she refused to look into their eyes, staring down at her lunch and the table. "And call me Ash,"

"Ashia... Ash..." Wolfie said quietly. She looked up. Something unspoken passed between them, and the vampire nodded, as though he had just said something she agreed with. Casper, Mantha, and Ra exchanged glances. But to Wolfie and Ashia, it seemed like the event had been nothing out of the ordinary.

It was the kind of thing only the closest of friends could understand, and was unique to each pair or circle of said friends. Admittedly, Casper, Mantha, and Ra had their own connections, but they couldn't tell what had happened with the other two. All they knew was whatever it was, it had calmed Ashia down.

That might have been when they started being best friends.

(**Not as long as the previous chapter, but almost as crucial, I can assure you. Are you all wondering about the moonlight tidbit? Well, Ashia wouldn't tell, so I won't either! ;] Hang in there, kitties!**** Thank you Maric and DigiCat99 for the reviews!**)


	3. Terrible Transformation

_**Chapter 3: Terrible Transformations**_

"Disturbia, it's like the darkness is a lighttttt, Disturbia, am I scarin' you tonightttt..." Ashia sang under her breath as she studied.

"What kinda music is THAT?" Thatch commented rudely. She glared up at the other vampire with narrowed eyes; he hung in his usual place on the chandelier, while she sat on one of the stairs. Actually, she was hovering several feet ABOVE the stairs... Being part ghost had many perks. Like watching her friends (and enemies) gape at her when she sat on nothing but air and opened her book.

"MY kinda music, that's what!" She retorted. Thatch rolled his eyes and went back to studying.

"Lame..." Hearing the word, Ashia growled, in a very wolf like way. Wolfie looked up from his science textbook in surprise. He didn't usually study with Casper, Mantha, and Ra, but he had admitted sheepishly that he didn't want Thatch to hurt him if he were alone.

"Hurt you? That's low even for Thatch!" Mantha had exclaimed. But Wolfie wasn't turned away. Both he and Ashia were studying science, though compared to the other students, they didn't really need to...

"Actually, what music IS that?" Whispered Ra. Mantha glared at him, but she was too curious herself to scold him. "I've never heard that song before,"

"The song's called Disturbia, and I... First heard it with Sara, if ya know what I mean," She winked. Thatch couldn't have understood what she meant, but nor did he care. And Ashia wasn't about to arm him with the information of her "fleshie" friend. He'd never let up if he knew!

"Are most of the songs you listen to like that?"

"No, there are a lot of other genres and such. If you'd just pay more attention to _them_ you'd see we aren't in the middle ages anymore. Nor does anybody say rock's the only music out there,"

"Well sure, if you wanna listen to a bunch of hippy junk!" Thatch cut in.

"Ya know what, Batboy?"

"What, Losergirl?"

"Shut up,"

"I don't have to!"

"I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"SHUDDAP!"

"What? You're not being clear enough!" She taunted. The rival boy was bristling with anger at this point, and his book slipped from his hands, falling a reasonable distance before crashing against the floor loudly. The sound echoed loudly around them; all was quiet. Onlookers held their breath as Thatch became a bat and furiously dove at Ashia. But she smirked, then laughed, and held her book in front of her before vanishing from sight. The book appeared to propel itself forward... Right at Thatch.

"OW!" He shouted as he slammed against the textbook and quickly turned back to normal. Unfortunately, he forgot he was on the stairs. Ashia reappeared on the step before him and gently shoved him. That was all it took.

"Have a nice trip!" She laughed gleefully.

"You little...Oof!"

"Ah, ah, ah! Language!"

"GRRRRR..." Thatch rolled to his feet and lunged at her, but to his surprise his hands found nothing but air; she was now intangible, as well as invisible, and suddenly no one knew where she stood!

"Come and get me, Batty!" Sang Ashia's voice, and he lashed out in the direction of the sound. Again, he found nothing. But by then she was gone, and there was nothing he could do.

Because unlike Thatch, she didn't want to fight.

~~~Later~~~

"Wow! Ashia, you should've seen yourself! Man, I wish I'd had a camera!" Ra praised.

"Pfft. That was nothing! I've been in real fights before. And you know what I found?" She frowned. "They always end bad,"

"Yeah, for them," Mantha scoffed. Casper frowned.

"You didn't HURT any of them, did you?"

Ashia didn't answer. Her right hand clenched at her side, the left clasping her precious amulet. The onyx glinted in the sunlight as they walked past the large hallway windows. Lights also hung from the ceiling to produce extra light in case the sun failed to illuminate the checkered tile properly.

"What does it matter if she hurt them? A fight's a fight; of course it always ends bad," Wolfie stated, earning a grateful smile from the vampire.

"Thank you, Wolfie!" Ashia suddenly grinned and said, "On a lighter note... Wanna listen to non-rock fleshie music?" Her friends exchanged weird looks, but readily agreed.

~~~AGAIN later...~~~

Ashia lent her friends her Ipod, but now SHE had nothing to listen to! Of course, she decided, there were OTHER things to do...

"Ah, science, how I love thee!" She whispered, expertly spinning the black handled screwdriver and finally inserting the last screw into her latest piece of art, as she thought of it. A small, silver, metallic box sat on the desk before her. She was sitting in Professor Burns' classroom, as Wolfie worked on the plans for his newest attempt to catch moonlight. Burns himself stood proudly to the side.

"TWO of my students taking an extra interest in science! I must be doing something right. I am so PROUD! Of you two, I mean,"

"_Riiiiiiiiight_..." Both students thought to themselves. Burns eventually left the room, and Wolfie looked up from his planning, staring in surprise at the end of his now chewed up and slobbered on pencil. He seemed embarrassed, and quickly set it down and pushed it away. Ashia giggled, and he looked up to see her watching him. He blushed under his fur, but curiosity got the better of him.

"What's that?"

"What's what?" She asked in mock innocence.

"THAT, on your desk!"

"Oh, THIS?" She picked up the box and played with it idly. "Hope you don't mind, I made a timer for your project. What can I say, I was bored,"

"A timer? Great! I was having trouble figuring out how I was going to deal with that problem..." She smiled.

"Can I see what you've got so far?"

"Um... Sure..." Ashia flew, as a bat, beside his desk and transformed back in a shower of cold, quickly fading sparks. Her bat form was silvery, her fur soft and slick. She looked down at Wolfie's paper, to see a surprisingly well drawn image of what the experiment was going to look like. Many notes were written neatly to the side, and Ashia looked amazed.

"Whoa... You never told me you could draw!" She paused, a slow grin forming on her face. "Perfect, my timer can go there!" She pointed to a specific point on the drawing, towards the bottom corner. "And it can connect here, with wires maybe, which would run along here and connect..."

"...Right, THERE!" Both finished together, pointing towards the exact same spot. They laughed.

"I'd better color code it, or I'll be completely lost within minutes!"

"That's what I always do; blue, green, and red, usually,"

"Easy colors to remember,"

"Yeah. Thank the gods I'm not color blind!"

"Me neither!" They laughed again.

"Hmm... Why isn't there anything there?"

"Oh... That's what I'm still trying to figure out. The original design wouldn't work there with the adjustments I made..." Wolfie and Ashia both stared silently at the drawing for a moment, lost in thought. Then, slowly, Ashia reached out and traced her finger in a somewhat complex design. Wolfie perked up, grabbed his pencil, and drew what she had traced in the appropriate area. Both looked at each other, grinned, and said in unison,

"Perfect!"

Days turned to weeks as both Ashia and Wolfie had to wait to snag some of the pieces to _their_ experiment, and slowly but surely, they became inseparable. They studied together, ate together, and discussed scientific, and even, occasionally, universal or magical theories. Ashia almost died laughing when Mickey and Monaco decided to play around with Wolfie's "Look," toying with hairstyles and forcing him into a thousand different outfits only they could dream up. Of course, she quickly stopped laughing when they suggested doing the same for her, and promptly fled the scene.

Mantha and even Harpy also became good friends, and Ashia was grateful for her new, female, creature friends, and loved to make them laugh whenever possible. She didn't mind that Harpy sometimes sat with Thatch, but she avoided the other Blood Drinker as much as possible, herself. All he ever wanted to do was argue, bully, and fight, all of which were things Ashia had no interest in.

"I can be crueler than he is if I WANT to, but the truth is, it makes me sick inside!" Ashia admitted one day at lunch, one hand balled in a fist over her heart, the other clasping the amulet that never left her neck, except on the rare occasion that she put it in her pocket for safe keeping.

"You see, just because we're creatures doesn't mean we have to ENJOY the pain of others!" Casper exclaimed.

"No offensive, Casper, but there's also such thing as too _nice_, and that's you..."

"Yeah, I know..." The ghost sighed. "I TRY not to be too helpful! But I can't help it!"

"Honestly... The only person you CAN'T help is yourself!"

"I know, Ashia. You can stop now,"

"Oh, but I'm having so much fun!"

As the end of the month drew ever nearer, Wolfie and Ashia kept a close eye on the calendar, and more specifically, the moon. Three quarters full, closer, closer...

And then that dreaded day was upon them. They wouldn't be able to try their experiment yet, it still wasn't ready. That (creature) morning, Wolfie woke in a wild frenzy as usual, and was allowed to skip classes to prevent his... Ripping anyone apart, particularly Mickey and Monaco. And as for Ashia, well, she must have stayed up late the previous night, because she slept in. Casper, Mantha, and Ra had left her alone when, from inside her coffin, she sleepily told them she wasn't ready to get up yet.

Being Kibosh's niece, she couldn't possibly get in much trouble, anyway, so they let her be. After all, it WAS a full moon out, and they suspected she was feeling ill and weak because of it. They had no idea what was really happening to her body, about her true motives for staying in bed.

One, she really WAS tired, and two... She was scared.

Finally, hand clenched tight around her amulet, she took a deep breath to calm her agitated nerves, and slowly pushed open the lid to her coffin. She was terrified, but the amulet gave her the strength and confidence she needed to climb out of her "bed" and look about her.

She was alone.

"_Good_," She thought to herself, and nodded approvingly when she saw that the door was also shut. She slowly grabbed all her books, and went into the bathroom to look in the mirror. She blinked at her reflection. (Yes, she had one.) Tears began to form in her eyes, and one, just one, spilled over and ran down her cheek. She made no move to brush it away, simply let it dry on her face.

She opened the door into the hallway, and checked to make sure no one was coming. They weren't. She closed the door quietly, carefully, behind her, and made her way stealthily to class.

"Oh, HOW am I going to do this...?" She muttered quietly to herself. Her heart was beating rapidly, and she wanted more than anything to turn and flee back to the safety of her coffin, but she remembered all the ordeals she had been through before, and told herself this was nothing compared to all of that, all those times. She scolded herself for cowardice.

"What the..."

"_Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! NOT HIM! NOT NOW_!" She thought, begging in her mind for it not to be true. She turned around slowly, deliberately.

But, oh, it was.

_Thatch_. Of all times for him to show up! She felt like cursing. His eyes were wide, his mouth hung open, and for once, the notorious bully seemed to be at a loss for words. Then he snapped back to reality, spun around, and instantly flew into the air, a bat, shouting at anyone who would listen, and not for the first time, Ashia _really_ felt like pounding him into a pulp.

Unfortunately, now was the only time she truly wasn't in a position to do that. She squeezed her amulet tightly, and whistled.

"Into the fire we go. Hell awaits,"


	4. Truths

_**Chapter 4. Truths**_

"FLESHIE!" The cries rang out through the halls and ricocheted back in a chorus of other student's and staff's voices. Ashia squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to collect and ready herself, and then walked as slowly and calmly as she could toward the entrance to the school. All she needed was space for all the creatures to gather around her, and her amulet to show them the truth.

Her fangs were gone. Her skin was no longer pale, but a smooth, more natural looking white. Even her cape had been left behind... She saw no use in wearing it if she was no longer a vampire, for the time being. After all, like this, she was powerless, unable to use any of her powers; including the ability to become a bat, and that was the power the cape usually seemed to signify. Still, she wore the same outfit as usual, her hair was the same, and her eyes had remained their usual blood ruby red... She was still Ashia, she just... Wasn't a creature anymore.

She found it harder and harder to keep at reasonable pace as she heard her classmates hurry in her direction. Cold sweat beaded her forehead, and she almost bolted, but she finally turned to her own personal last resort...

She turned it into a matter of pride.

Ashia wasn't perfect, and she knew that. But it gave her a sense of stony satisfaction when she was able to turn her own weaknesses into tools. And while she didn't usually care much what others thought about her, save her friends and family, she DID care about letting others see her back down. No one called Ashia Marie Kyrier a coward! No one!

Determination lent her strength, and she stopped in the dead center of the entrance hall, back turned to the massive double doors. She waiting a little impatiently now for the others to arrive and form their customary circle around her. The students of the Scare School closed in on her, tightly locking her in a prison with living (or not so living) bars. It wasn't really necessary, but they didn't know that. Ashia felt as though her heart would burst, or she would faint, but no, by some miracle she managed to maintain her consciousness. (She wasn't really the type to faint, anyway.) She kept her cool, on the outside where it mattered. Show weakness to creatures and they WILL take advantage, she reminded herself. Unless they were Casper...

"What's your name, fleshie? And how did you get in our school?" Demanded Dash, while Alder just stared like the idiot he was. Quite frankly, they both were, but Dash was the idiot who assumed authority.

"I was already here, and you already know my name," Stated Ashia calmly, though inside she wasn't half so collected. Of course, this only served to confuse the headmasters further, and this didn't please them.

"Listen, fleshie, you'd better start making sense, or we'll turn you into stone here and now! I said, what is your name and how did you get into our school?"

"Get the gargoylite!" Thatch urged excitedly, much to her annoyance. She noted with satisfaction that Casper, Mantha, and Ra threw glares at the vampire, even though he remained oblivious.

"My uncle brought me, stupid, how else would I get here?" To herself, she thought, "_I'm playing with them! My life is in danger and I'm __playing__ with them!_" Well, by now, Dash was practically red with rage, and he shouted a little as he repeated, harshly,

"WHAT is your name?"

"My name is Ashia Marie Kyrier. I am Kibosh's niece," She grinned at their astonished faces. "Hey guys!" Slowly, shock wore away into disbelief and then rage.

"You aren't Kibosh's niece!" Alder yelled.

"Impossible!" Dash agreed. Thatch stepped forward menacingly.

"If you're Ashia, then prove it! Turn into a bat, or walk through that wall!" She snarled at the smug still-vampire.

"Idiot. _Remember__what__time__of__month__it__is_?"

"It's the full moon! But wait... Is it possible? Can it really be...?" Casper gasped.

"_**Ashia?**_"

"Her amulet..." Mantha said quietly. All eyes turned to the girl's neck, and she smiled, reached up, and displayed the precious talisman proudly for all to see.

"So it _is_ you, Ashia!" She nodded.

"Yes. You see? This is what moonlight does to me!"

"I still don't believe it," Huffed Thatch.

"Batboy, when I get my powers back a week from now, you better lock your coffin tight and pray for mercy, 'cause I know EXACTLY where you sleep!"

"A WEEK?" Everyone gasped. Ashia sighed.

"Yes, a week. The amulet can shorten it to only two days, but as long as I'm not in any immediate danger, Uncle K says I'm not to use it. The moonlight stays in my system longer, that's all. Werewolves are actually pretty resistant to moonlight... It's only when the moon's rays are strongest that when it affects them...But I'm not entirely werewolf, so the moonlight has an easy way in... And not such an easy way out,"

"What do you mean, 'easy way in'?" Mantha asked.

"Most things are only able to deflect moonlight, not absorb it, like werewolves do. It makes them stronger, but it is also too much... They lose control because they're overwhelmed by it. Only those who are very well practiced and wise, powerful experts in the field, are able to resist and retain their control and memory... Because normally, the moonlight controls the mind, body, _and_ memory during the full moon, and the fact that it can be resisted at all is a little known fact," She paused, and looked thoughtful before adding, "Come to think of it, that's something Wolfie will want to know; he'd probably try it out next month... _Two_ results for _two_ experiments in a single night!" She smiled and laughed, clapping her hands in front of herself with glee.

"But then if the rest of us can't absorb moonlight like you and Wolfie, then how come we all had our personalities switched during his LAST moonlight experiment?" A creature girl with long hair and three eyes asked shyly; Triclops.

"Good question; see, anything can be affected by moonlight, it's omnipotent. But normally, the sheer amount of moonlight, and the energy caused by it, required to affect the rest of you would shatter the Earth. The only way it was able to do what it did was because it entered all of your bodies in one quick, penetrating shockwave. Otherwise... The entire planet would have already been obliterated," Ashia had difficulty restraining her laughter at all of their shocked and horrified faces. She'd already come to terms with the fact, after all it was in the past, and now it was all the others' turn.

"Obliterated?" Mosshead asked meekly. Ashia nodded, and proceeded to explain the concept to the simple minded creature male in a way she _knew_ any friend of Thatch's would be able to understand...

"Obliterated... BOOM!" She made a hand gesture with both hands mimicking an explosion. The swamp creature gulped.

"Oh," He squeaked. She almost felt bad for making the guy look like an idiot, especially given her own current appearance. He really wasn't that stupid, he just was simply not the brightest, either. He'd had the unfortunate bad luck to be outsmarted by the bully who was Thatch. And really, she knew _he_ must have his reasons, too, but from where she was standing, they could not be reason enough to act the way he did. To act... Like Thatch. After all, Thatch's life was pretty well off. Pampered only child, perhaps?

"Headmasters Alder and Dash?"

"Er, yes?" It was clear to everyone that it really was Ashia, because in their minds, only Ashia seemed to know everything the way this girl did. Thus, they were indeed, one and the same.

"Can I go to class now?"

"O-of course! To class, all of you!" Dash called, shooing them all away with a single tentacle.

"And no smiling!" Alder added. "Or laughter! We hate laughter!" Ashia HAD to smile at that as she passed by, (though to her annoyance she wasn't punished or even told off for it,) on her way to her first period. Some things never changed, and apparently, Alder and Dash were prime examples of that. Not particularly genius, or even compatible with one another for that matter, but stable enough. As Uncle K would put it, they were "balanced." Sigh. How he loved his precious balance... This was why it was so ironic that he always used to rant and go on and on about Casper as well as Thatch all the time. Casper was understandable, because he saw so much of himself in him and he had saved the world and preserved the balance, but on the other hand, Thatch had at least been an accomplice of the very creatures who had very nearly destroyed it! Granted, he also had not FIRED those two creatures yet, miraculously... Though he had done so temporarily in the case of Master Blister, whom had replaced the two headed headmasters until it was proven they were best for the school. Also... Uncle K got bored without them around.

The rest of the day was uneventful, as was the week that followed. If only there were words to describe the look on Wolfie's face both when he saw her as a fleshie and when she told him he might control moonlight instead of it being the other way around, she mused. She still didn't like the way everyone besides her friends skirted around her in the hallways and avoided her gaze; well, all except for the staff and Thatch, who made a point out of staring right at her whenever she turned around. It was frustrating, but with the help of her new companions, she got by.

And the first thing she did when she woke up with her powers and vampire form restored, was drop a temporarily invisible book on an unsuspecting Thatch's head.

(**Well, now you know the truth... or at least, part of it. *Grins evilly* That's right! The story is far from finished yet... As I said before, this will be a *short* series. This chapter and the majority of the next are different in that I didn't just type them up... I was in California for close to a week, so instead of typing I hand wrote these pages and then typed them up when I got back.**

**K T: Lol, you were right! Wow. ;]**

**cant think of a name right now: Whoa thanks! I actually WAS planning on putting her in other stories, but they aren't as big as this one... Meaning as important. But I'm glad you like her! And now you know. X3**)


	5. Shadow Rose

_**Chapter 5: Shadow Rose**_

_But Sorzal was too late; the portal was closing, and with it his last chance to return to his beloved Keirrin. In one final, desperate move, he..._

"...ASHIA!"

"What, wha...?" She glanced up and immediately went cross-eyed at how close Mantha's hand was in front of her face. She shook her head and blinked.

"What are you doing? The bell just rung!"

"Oh... Sorry," Ashia apologized guiltily. She rapidly grabbed her books and swept out of the History classroom. Heady sent her a disapproving glance as she went, then continued to prepare for the next class.

"What were you writing back there?" Casper asked as they walked. All three of her friends leaned forward curiously.

"A... Story," She admitted, a little embarrassed. She checked the hallway for eavesdroppers before adding, "I'm writing a book,"

"That's cool; what's it about?" Ra craned his neck to try and get a glimpse of the notebook in her arms, the one she had just been writing in. She'd forgotten, in her haste, to close it. Hugging the notebook to her chest to hide it from view, she thwarted the attempt.

"It's called Shadow Rose, you can all read it when it's done," She smirked tauntingly and laughed at their disappointed faces. "Hey, c'mon, you'll forget all about it by this time next week! Cheer up!"

"Fine. Then I guess you don't want to know about Jimmy's Soccer tournament that's coming up!" Mantha teased. She gaped. Even though she hadn't yet met the boy, she'd heard a lot about the blonde fleshie.

"Soccer tournament? Wow!" Ashia grinned. "That's great!"

"Yeah, and since you two haven't met yet..." Ra began, gesturing for Casper to finish.

"We all agreed, if you want, to have you come to the first tournament game tomorrow at 4:30 to watch!" The ghost complied.

"Cool! I assume he'll know I'm there?"

"Of course, we already told him you might, and besides, we're going to meet him before the game starts. Since you and I can fly and become invisible, it made sense for you to come, even though Mantha and Ra can't,"

"Hey, anything to get out of working on that History report. Blech!" She squeezed her eyes shut and stuck out her tongue. The others cracked up laughing.

"Hey guys! What'd I miss?" Panted Wolfie, running up behind them and eagerly joining the conversation. After a quick retelling, the werewolf nodded.

"Yeah, it's too bad. I wish I could turn invisible!"

"But I thought you wanted to fly! And turn intangible, and shoot lightning bolts, and breathe fire..." Ashia teased, nudging him. He blushed.

"Yeah okay, we get it..." He grumbled, making the vampiress laugh. "Oh and by the way, I already knew about Shadow Rose. It's very good, you'll like it," Wolfie smirked, enjoying his own revenge for once. Ashia pouted, but could hardly hold back a smile, which was easy to see, so she gave up and let it through.

"WHAT? You already read it?"

"Well, what she's got so far. I can't wait to see if Sorzal makes it through the portal!"

"He doesn't,"

"Then how does he get back to Keirrin?"

"You'll see," Ashia grinned and laughed again as he whimpered. "Aw, c'mon! Stop that, you sound like a puppy that just got abandoned on the side of the road! It's heart wrenching!" When he didn't stop, and began making his puppy face, she groaned. "Oh for crying out loud!" She stopped and bowed her head, speaking in a low, dramatic tone. "May the Underworld have mercy on my soul..."

~~~Later~~~

"Hey Ashia?"

"Yeah, Mantha?" They were in the girl's dorm now, where Ashia had somehow "unpacked" a coffin the first day she had arrived, when no one was around. No one knew how, nor could they explain it in any way. The only semi-reasonable explanation anyone could think of was that servants had brought it, but no servants or even just the gargoyles of the school had been seen carrying anything even similar to a coffin on that day; and yet, here it was, with Ashia climbing into it, wearing tomorrow's clothes, as she usually did. Occasionally, she forgot and had to rush in the morning to get the extra chore done. After all, it was easier for Ashia to cope with her special treatment if she followed the rules to the T and didn't give them a chance to treat her differently... And if she was late, and wasn't punished, that pretend normality would shatter before her very eyes; the eyes of her heart.

"Where did your coffin come from?"

"Romania,"

"No, I mean, how did you get it into the school? Everyone's been wondering,"

"Oh. That," She chuckled and smirked. "You'll just have to wait and see, now, won't you?"

"Ashia!" The zombie whined.

"Mantha!" She returned the whine mockingly. Mantha just gave her a look that said, "Really, Ash? Really?" She chuckled again to herself, and lay back, pulling the lid of the coffin with her using the bar across the inside, shutting it. When Sara had seen her coffin for the first time she had remarked,

"So THAT'S how you close and open it! I always wondered about that..." Ashia was glad to have the oddball as a friend, and even more grateful that she had had a family who wasn't anti-fleshie, like most creatures. She smiled, remembering all the memories she had of Sara. Unfortunately, this also brought back memories of her parents and sister, which in turn brought _that_ day to mind. She closed her eyes, willing herself to fall into dreams before she had a chance to break. But silent tears still leaked from behind her eyelids, few, but existent.

Nothing could ease the pain of that day. Nothing.

Her hands went instinctively first to her amulet, then as she clasped it in one hand, the other reached down toward her pocket, then inside it, to touch the locket. She pulled it out and let go of her amulet to open it and gaze at their faces. It scared her to think that she might one day not even remember what they looked like, so the image, despite not being real flesh and blood, was a consolation. _Mom, mother. Dad, father. Trililly..._ On its own accord, her fingers brushed the glass over each person's face as she thought of them.

_I was there, I saw it happen. And I did nothing._ She had been so young, she'd been so terrified... And with the cursed effects of moonlight weighing her down, she'd been completely helpless... It hurt to think that maybe, just maybe, if she hadn't been trapped as one of them, then they all might've stood a chance. After all, unlike her sister, she had none of the customary weaknesses... Silver, garlic... Sure, an arrow through the heart, arrowhead rubbed in garlic or not, would've _hurt_, in fact, she would have most likely died; however, in the arm or leg, it might hinder her, but the garlic would not poison her system, she would not have been rendered helpless...

_I WAS helpless! I could do nothing to stop them! Oh STOP IT! I don't want to think of this right now! It hurts, stop it!_ The tears only increased in frequency. This was the reason why she sought so fervently to conquer moonlight, even though she already HAD the amulet. _But... The prophecy came to pass. The witch was right!_

As much as it pained her to admit it, she accepted that the curse she so loathed had saved her life. And now she wanted to be rid of it.

_I told you, I don't want to think of this right now!_ She scolded herself. _Now stop it, or I'll... I'll..._ She didn't finish, she never finished. After all, what could one threaten oneself with? Besides, the mind, as far as thoughts went, seemed to have a life of its own. It was too difficult to control. The mind controlled the body, not the other way around. She sighed quietly, and concentrated on breathing. Soon, she awakened in a world that was not her own, and she smiled.

She was dreaming.

_"Catch me if you can, Ash!" Laughed the fleshie girl, running across the lush, well tended green grass of the expansive backyard. A silver werewolf, almost translucent in appearance, bounded behind her._

_ "Oh, believe me, I will!" Ashia promised, flying overhead in bat form. She swooped down and snagged the girl by the shoulders, lifting her up, and swung her through the air, letting go. The girl screamed, still laughing, as she went flying through the air. Tirosh bolted forward, all with a calm smile on his face despite the tension of his body, and fluidly caught the mortal in his arms and placed her back on the grass. Scercilla was floating on the other side of the yard, ready to do the same if- when- the girls repeated the action in her direction. The human trusted them completely; she knew they would never let her get hurt._

_ When they were done romping and playing, they all posed for pictures, the best of which was the very image she now kept with her everywhere she went so as to hold them forever close to her heart._

_ Suddenly her eyes swam, and cold liquid drenched over her neck and shoulders, soaking her hair and dripping down her back, down her front. She gasped and froze from the icy surprise, and slowly turned to determine the perpetrator._

_ Her father grinned, flashing his fangs, before composing himself in an innocent, yet obviously guilty, manner._

_ "DAD!" She accused him with the word, grinning just the same. She could plainly see the bucket handle as her father held it behind his back, but to the side, purposefully. He pretended to be interested in the grass, the trees, the house... Anything but her. When he heard her voice he looked at her and said plainly,_

_ "What?"_

_ At that moment, he himself was drenched from behind, bits of wet, broken blue balloon clinging to his hair. Sara, who had already cracked up the first time, doubled over further, if it was possible, and dropped to the ground, rolling and laughing. Every time it seemed she would stop, she looked back at Tirosh and was hit by a fresh wave. Trililly, being not quite as raucous, laughed and clutched her sides, while Ashia, too, doubled over, but not before giving the one responsible a thumbs up._

_ "Nice one, Mom!" The werewolf/ghost smiled and winked._

_ Well, that escalated into a full blown water war, at some point of which Ashia and Sara dragged out the hose and began soaking the adults, who retaliated by stealing the hose for themselves and returning the favor. The ensuing battle lasted for quite some time before they all headed inside for Lunch, only to return to play as soon as they were finished. They never had time to dry off before the water balloons, buckets, and hose were back in action, and the creature family and fleshie girls' laughter rang throughout the family's abode._

In her sleep, Ashia turned over on her side and smiled.

The rules and laws of the Underworld meant nothing to them. Being mean was something they could do when required, but they would never enjoy it as a frequent, daily pastime like some. Here, lost in dreams, Ashia could forget the past and, for a time, a short, short while, be reunited with the family with whom she had been unfairly forced to part. That fateful afternoon was, temporarily, forgotten and lost to the swarms of cheery memories that she now began to relive, times spent with Sara, including the day they met, as well as time spent with her family, her sister, parents, and yes, even her uncle, though now they had a far rockier relationship. Here, in her subconscious mind, she could escape from it all, see them all again, from times now long gone. She was at peace.

For now.

(**K T: You know, you're probably this story's biggest fan. =3 I love reading your reviews, they make me feel appreciated! X]**

**cant think of a name right now: Yes, he does! But don't worry, he'll have his moments... Eventually! ;]**)


	6. Water Vs Fire

_**Chapter 6: Water vs. Fire**_

Ashia groaned.

"What's wrong, Ashia?" Casper asked kindly with concern showing in his eyes. She didn't answer, and Wolfie took it upon himself to explain.

"We were up late last night working on our project. And it doesn't help that the full moon's coming up again," He, too, looked a bit dejected. "If we don't finish before tomorrow night, between homework, classes, and some much needed sleep, we'll have to postpone the experiment for another month!" He paused, before adding, "Although, on the bright side, I'll still have a chance to try that trick you were talking about! About controlling moonlight instead of letting it control me,"

"Oh, that's right! The moon will be full again in two days, won't it? Well, I'm sure you'll get it done. After all, you're both A students!" The ghost pointed out, causing both the hybrid vampiress and the male werewolf to blush despite themselves.

"At least the game will be fun!" Ashia brightened up as she remembered. "I can't wait until 4:30!" She grinned, showing her razor sharp fangs. In Thatch's case, Wolfie had always been intimidated by the sight of a vampire's "teeth," but when it came to Ashia, he was completely relaxed. It didn't matter what she was capable of, he knew she would never purposefully hurt him. Sure, she could rip his throat out with those fangs, but she never would. It was still a gruesome thought, though...

"Wollllllfie..." Ashia called, waving her hands in front of the daydreamer's face. "Hey, come on Wolfboy, we gotta get to class!"

"What? Oh. Sorry," He blushed again.

"No problem. But there's going to be if you don't get moving! I could bail you out of punishment if I tried, but you know I hate that!" She got behind him and started pushing him toward the classroom until he picked up enough speed to satisfy her. As he did so, he just nodded. She'd already admitted her dislike of special treatment.

~~~Flashback~~~

_ "Oh, don't worry, I'll get it!" Wolfie assured her as he reached for the dropped screwdriver, Ashia's own, her favorite tool which was always to be found in her pockets with the locket and occasionally, her amulet. She sighed, annoyed, as he handed it back to her._

_ "You didn't have to do that, you know,"_

_ "Do what?"_

_ "Pick it up for me! I could have gotten it perfectly fine on my own!"_

_ "I was just trying to be helpful,"_

_ "But I __HATE__ being treated specially just because I'm Kibosh's niece! It's worse than being laughed at and tormented, in my opinion,"_

_ "You sound like Thatch," Wolfie spat bitterly. Ashia stared at him in surprise, unsure what to do or say now that she had offended him. "Besides, what do you know about getting bullied, Ash?"_

_ "...Well..." She struggled with her words, still not sure what was expected of her. "Not... Not everyone knew I was related to Uncle K when my... When my parents... Before I came to live with him!"_

_ "Come to think of it, why DID you choose to live with him?"_

_ "I didn't. I had no choice,"_

_ "But, WHY?"_

_ "..." She turned away so he wouldn't see the water welling up in her eyes, but he knew better, and just nodded understandingly._

_ "It's okay, you can tell me when you're ready," To his shock and utter embarrassment, she suddenly whipped around and squeezed him in a quick hug._

_ "Thank you, Wolfie,"_

~~~End of Flashback~~~

"Perfect, just in time!" Ashia cheered quietly as the bell rung and they were in their seats.

"Yeah, thanks Ash, I'd probably still be in the hall if it weren't for you," She waved dismissively.

"Hey, what are friends for? I got your back! No matter what!" He smiled as she grinned at him, glad to have such a good friend.

"Even if the moon makes me go insane and I rip YOUR throat out?"

"Even then!"

"Ah-em!" Professor Burns sounded impatient. Despite his efforts, it still took a moment or two before the class quieted and settled down into their seats for the lecture. "Alright class, now today's topic, is "Weaknesses!" Every creature has them, and so do fleshies! Unfortunately, because every fleshie is different, despite seemingly being all the same, those weaknesses are always, different! Now, I'm going to call on everyone in the room, and you will all state the weakness your species exhibits! Harpy!"

"Bwak!"

"Yes, yes, very good; Mosshead!" And so it went...

"Freezing!"

"Fire!"

"Silver!"

"Being unwrapped!"

"Losing my wand!"

"Losing my limbs!"

"I don't have any!" Thatch bragged, and Ashia took it on herself to "cough" the answer for him...

"Garlic..." He turned to glare at her, but she avoided his gaze and played innocent.

"And Ashia? Being a hybrid, do you exhibit some, or all, of the traditional weaknesses?"

"You mean of a ghost, vampire, and/or werewolf?"

"Yes,"

"No,"

"What? What do you mean, "No?" All creatures have weaknesses!"

"Of course they do. And so do I. You've seen what happens when the moon is full!"

"Yes, yes, so your weakness is Moonlight itself..."

"Exactly,"

"Well, why don't you just create a device to counteract the full moon?"

"You say that like it's easy,"

When the dragon Science professor had finished going around the classroom in a random order, he began drawing diagrams on the board and explained how and why certain things effected certain creatures in a certain way, and not others, although he skipped her for being so unique. Oh, well. She wasn't really the only one, since some creatures were really undecided when it came to species. They had names for themselves, sure, and a lot of times others used those names, but like fleshies, almost each and every one of them was a separate subdivision entirely, and so had weaknesses specific to only themselves... Generally speaking.

After class, the day dragged on slowly, a blurry, uneventful collection of hours and minutes until lunch came along so she could sit with her friends and chat, after which the clocks returned to their slow, slow ticking. FINALLY, it was time to go to the game, school was done for the day, and most students and staff were either doing homework, or CREATING it.

Mantha, Ra, and Wolfie walked the other two as far as the dimension tube, said all their "See you later!" phrases and such, and departed. Casper and Ashia simply flew/walked invisibly into the little shack and Ashia stood and waited in the middle of the room while Casper activated the tube. Just before he did so, the guardian creature stirred and muttered darkly,

"Broccoli! It's a conspiracy, I tell you!" Before nodded off once more, much to the two's relief. The tube was activated, and Ashia was dropped and swallowed up by the swirling, colored vortex. She laughed along the way; the tube was so much FUN!

"That. Was awesome!" She cheered when they landed feet first in Casper's home.

"Who's the girl? We've never seen her before!" They turned around to find all three of Casper's uncles waiting.

"She's a friend of mine from school; she's new,"

"Hi! I'm Ashia Marie Kyrier. Kibosh's niece!"

"KIBOSH!" All three said at once, and before she had time to speak, they were everywhere; did she want anything to eat or drink? Was she tired? Why hadn't Casper warned them, the house was a mess! Was she bored, did she want the TV on? What channel? How loud?

"STOP!" She screamed, and they immediately obeyed. "I'm not here to be treated like a queen! I don't WANT to be treated like a queen! I'm only here to go watch Jimmy's game with Casper!"

"We're sorry... But your uncle!"

"...Is a big, fat, green tyrant, I know!"

"...Those weren't the words we were going to use!"

"Of COURSE they weren't, but they're the words _I_ chose to use to describe him, and that's that!"

"Sorry," One repeated, then held out his hand. "I'm Fatso,"

"Stretch,"

"Stinky,"

"Well, nice to meet you, Stretch, Fatso, Stinky! We'll be going now,"

"Have fun!" Stinky called after them as they walked out.

"Sheesh..."

"Well, your uncle IS a pretty big deal!"

"Yeah, you're right; I don't know what ELSE I was expecting, but I guess, since YOU don't treat me that way, I didn't think they would either? Oh well, at least they stopped... Most never do,"

"Hey, Jimmy!" Casper greeted his friend as they phased through the wall of the fleshie's bedroom and found him waiting. He looked up and smiled at the ghost, then gave Ashia a curious look.

"Hey, Casper; so you're Ashia, right? Kibosh's niece?"

"That's me!"

"Should I call you Princess of the Underworld, or something?"

"Oh, sweet, UNDERWORLD, **no**!"

"Sorry! I didn't know!"

"It's okay, just... Treat me like you would Casper; I HATE special treatment!"

"Alright. So, you're a hybrid, huh? Not just a vampire?"

"Yep. Vampire, werewolf, and ghost!" She grinned, flashing her fangs at the boy.

"Whoa! Your fangs are sharper!"

"Sharper? Than who's?"

"Thatch's! Yours are smaller, but sharper! And there's more of them!"

"Part werewolf, remember?" She smirked. "Maybe I'm just better," They all laughed, until Mr. Bradley's voice called out,

"Jimmy? It's time to go! Do have friends over? I hear voices!"

"It's nothing, Dad!" To them he said, "Gotta go. You'll both be at the game, right?"

"Of course!"

"You'll do fine!"

"Score a goal for me!" Ashia added, earning more laughs from the guys.

"Will do!" The fleshie assured her, and ran to get in the car before his Dad had a chance to enter and notice the two creatures.

~~~Later~~~

"Great game!" Ashia complimented. Jimmy's team had won, but not by much. It had been a close call.

"We almost lost that time!"

"Relax, you did great! And next time, you'll do even better!"

"Thanks. Wanna come over to my place and practice?"

"Sorry, but Ashia..."

"It's okay, I can take care of myself! I'll head back, and you can go with Jimmy!"

"Are you sure?"

"Casper, if you even START treating me special right now, I will maim you!"

"I'm a ghost, remember?"

"So am I!"

"Only part of you,"

"...Shut up,"

"Ashia!"

"Look, just go! I know you want to, and besides, I was always told it's rude to refuse a gift or favor!"

"Well... Okay. Go on without me, I'll be back later,"

"Yesssss!" Jimmy exclaimed, pumping the air in victory. Casper followed Jimmy home and Ashia flew straight to his house. Fatso, Stinky, and Stretch were already getting used to treating her like any other creature, much to her relief, and she was got back to Scare School without a problem. After that, however, was a different story...

"HEY! Give it back, Thatch!" Wolfie begged, jumping and snatching at the blueprints in an effort to recapture them. Unfortunately, the bully easily dodged the werewolf's feeble attempts.

"And what's this supposed to be?" The vampire asked, pointing toward the silver device attached to the moonlight project they were currently still working on.

"T-that's the timer! So it doesn't flip everybody's personalities like last time!"

"Huh. I bet Ashia made that for you, right? Can't do it alone, need help from your _girlfriend_?"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"Right. That's why you spend every minute of the day by her side,"

"We're best friends!"

"Whatever. This piece of junk will never work anyway. Who _drew_ this, anyway?"

As luck would have it, that was precisely what Ashia walked in on in time to hear. She saw Wolfie's ears and tail droop in shame, embarrassment, and hurt. And it made her very, _**very**_, angry...

"Hey, Batboy!"

"Huh?" Thatch and Wolfie both turned to face the girl, who had her arms crossed and scowl spread across her face.

"Give it back and leave him alone!"

"Make me!" He scoffed. Her eyes narrowed, and Wolfie, who's face had lighten up when he saw her, now backed away a little, putting himself out of Thatch's range, just in case. Both vampires glared at one another.

"Oh, believe me, I _**can**_ and I _**will**_! Give it back now, Thatch, and quit messing with my friends!"

"Fine. Then I guess I'll have to mess with you instead!"

"Go ahead! You don't scare me!"

"I told you before, I can make your life a living hell!"

"I'm already IN a living hell! And you just happen to be bullying the only archangel in this place!" Ashia was beginning to get fired up, she could feel it. Her jaw clenched and her hands balled into fists. She felt like snarling, but restrained herself. Wolfie blushed, but no one noticed. Passerbys were now stopping to watch the brewing fight.

"What's so good about angels when you live down here in the Underworld?"

"Well, what's so great about being the jerk that everybody hates?"

"Nobody hates me, and besides! We're creatures, we're supposed to be mean!"

"Not as excessively as you!"

"That's rich, coming from the niece of Kibosh himself!"

"I DON'T APPROVE OF MY UNCLE'S METHODS!"

"So? YOU have any say in the matter anyway! You just get spoiled in everything you do because of your uncle! You'd never amount to ANYTHING if it weren't for him! You can't do ANYTHING by yourself! Know why? Because you don't HAVE any real talent! You just think you do because everyone says so to get on Kibosh's good side! You're just a spoiled, princess, BRAT!" Thatch smirked triumphantly, fully aware that Ashia was trembling with rage. She was seething, and without thinking, she flung herself forward to the surprise of her target.

"YOU..." She screeched, knocking the rival vampire to the ground. "...DON'T..." And here she raked her nails across his face, drawing blood. "...DESERVE..." She proceeded to claw, bite, kick, slash, and pull at every inch of her opponent's body that she could reach with each word she spat out, as Thatch tried desperately but in vain to throw her off. He did his best to counter everything she threw at him, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much. "TO... BE... A... VAMPIRE!"

"YOU'RE A FAILURE! A WANNABE JERK WHO TAKES OUT HIS ANGER, STRESS, AND PAIN ON EVERYONE AROUND HIM! YOU'RE A DISGRACE TO VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE, YOU PUT SHAME ON THE NAME OF EVERY CREATURE THAT EXISTS! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT AND STAY OUT! IF I EVER CATCH YOU SCREWING WITH MY FRIENDS AGAIN, I _WILL_ **KILL** YOU! YOU'RE A DISGUSTING PIG, AND YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED IN MY FAMILY'S PLACE, YOU _**BASTARD**_!"

"GAH! SOMEBODY GET THIS CRAZY GIRL OFF ME!"

"What's going on here? What's all the ruckus? And, oh my..." Dash gasped.

"Holy hellfire!" Alder exclaimed, which was apparently the most extreme curse anybody had ever bothered to teach him... Needless to say, it wasn't much.

"Good heavens!" Heady cried from her crystal ball. Every student and staff member had gathered to watch Ashia maim the school bully.

"Somebody get that hybrid under control!" Professor Burns shouted.

"SCREECH!" Agreed the lunch lady thing.

"I'll get her!" Frankie volunteered, venturing forward and managing to get his hands on the girl as she kicked and screamed, thrashing and still clawing at Thatch, who was covered from head to toe in cuts, scrapes, bruises, and blood. By some miracle, the gym teacher DID manage to use his Franken strength to pry her off. But no one could get her to stop screaming and kicking, threatening to gouge out the eyes off the pompous boy before her. That is, no one, except...

"A... A... A-ash?" The screaming and kicking stopped abruptly. Ashia turned her head to see the owner of the voice, and the look on his face startled her.

"_Oh, god... I scared him_!"

Wolfie turned and ran in the opposite direction, making Ashia feel horrible about what she had done. Sure, Thatch was a jerk... But that didn't make it right for her to be one too. She glanced at the bully, to see Mosshead and Dummy Girl helping his up as the Nurse closed in, much to his horror. Instead of laughing, as she might have done under normal circumstances... She hung her head in shame.

"_What have I done_?"

(**To all my reviewers, thanks guys, it's because of your awesomeness that the stories continue! Don't worry, you'll find out what happened to Ashia's family soon! ;]**)


	7. Realization of the Impossible

_**Chapter 7. Realization of the Impossible and Unexpected**_

"...I'm well aware that Ashia can lose control sometimes. And I also know that when she does, she can be excruciatingly dangerous and difficult to control. Ashia, I'm ashamed of you!" Kibosh scolded.

"Not as much as I am of you, and of myself for being your niece!" She muttered darkly. The comment was ignored.

Alder and Dash had been forced to call Kibosh and explain to him what had occurred. The green ghost was furious and exasperated, but despite his anger, Ashia's shame as she stood there in the headmasters' office was not due to his actions, but Wolfie's.

"_I scared him. Not just startled him, really, truly, scared him! I've never DONE that before_!"

"...Furthermore, it might be in your best interest to return home for the rest of the school year," At these words, her head snapped up and her eyes widened.

"NO!"

"You don't give me much choice," Sighed Kibosh. "Bullying is one thing, attacking is another story entirely! You could have KILLED Thatch, and who are you to say it won't happen again?"

"It won't! It won't! I promise, Uncle K!"

"And what about Thatch?"

"I'm not apologizing, if that's what you're asking!"

"Ashia..."

"He's the one who got me like that! It's his fault for pushing me so far!"

"It's true you don't anger to that extent easily. But if he did it once, he could do it again. And next time, it may not be Thatch, and they may not survive,"

"...I'm not a killer. I just... I was... I thought..."

"What? Why did you attack?"

"He... said things to me. And before that, he was... Messing with... With..."

"With?"

"...Wolfie," She hung her head in defeat.

"So you tried to kill him,"

"NO!"

"Ashia..." Her uncle sighed. "Alright. You have one more chance; but be forewarned... Your betrothed has asked that you go to stay with him until the wedding, and the only thing keeping you from that, is Scare School,"

Ashia gulped.

"Go. You have classes to attend, correct?"

"Yes, uncle," And with a sinking feeling in her stomach and an ache in her heart, she left.

"...You know, sir, Ashia and Wolfie are practically inseparable now,"

"Yeah! They're best friends!"

"...And, it might have taken hours otherwise to stop her screaming, but all it took was his stuttering her nickname, Ash, and she was back to normal in an instant,"

"That's impossible! Ashia always takes at least 30 to 60 minutes to calm down, if not longer!"

"Well it's true, sir!"

"..." Kibosh turned and stared out at the water from the office's window. "Hmm... She'd better not get TOO close with the arranged marriage at hand, but this is good. If Wolfie is able to control her better than everyone else, he _might_ be able to talk some sense into her on the matter! I would like to have a word with him, but not now. I only came at this time because of the seriousness of the situation and of my niece's involvement. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. I will be leaving now..."

"..."

"Ahem!"

"Oh, right!" And the two began to sing a made up song on the spot to bid him farewell.

"_What do I do? What do I say? I suppose I need to apologize, but not to Thatch! If he DID learn any lessons from that, it would render them void if I tried. Then what? What_?" Ashia shook her head, but the thoughts refused to clear. With a sigh of defeat, she decided to leave it be. All she needed right now was to find him, then she worry over such things. It should come to her naturally if she meant it, right?

Ah. There. Wolfie was headed to class, just like she should have been. She figured she could handle special treatment to get him and herself out of punishment if they were late... Pretend normality wasn't nearly as important as friendship.

"WOLFIE!" She called, flying towards him in her bat form. The werewolf jumped, startled, and whirled around to face her. Other students turned their heads to watch, but weren't really interested enough to stop and check things out.

"Ashia?"

"It's Ash; look, I didn't mean to scare you, I didn't even mean to go off on Thatch! I don't know what happened..."

"..."

"I can't apologize to him, but I can to you. So... I'm sorry,"

"..." Wolfie stared at her for a long time. "...We need to get to class,"

"But..."

"Come on Ash; or you're going to get treated special!" He grinned and hurried ahead, leaving Ashia in a bit of shock. A relieved smile betrayed her happiness, and she nodded.

"Right! I don't wanna be late!" She agreed, and followed quickly. What an easy way to set things right, she was lucky to have such a cute, understanding and smart friend!

...Wait a minute, _cute_?

Oh no.

~~~Later~~~

"Ash, are you okay?"

"I... I don't really know, Mantha..."

"Are you feeling bad about what happened yesterday?"

"Well... That too, but... Well..." She sighed, and decided to confess; at least partly. "My "betrothed," from the arranged marriage I told you about, he wants me to go stay with him until we're married. The reason I haven't ended up doing that yet... Is because I'm enrolled here. But today... I almost got pulled out by Uncle K! I don't know what to do, I never wanted or agreed to marry the guy, and now... Now it's worse, because I... I like someone!"

"Oh, Ash!"

"I know, I know... It was stupid, but what can I do? Thatch was right; I never have any say in the matter! ANY matter!"

"That's not true! Nobody can control who they like. Hopefully, it's just a crush, and it'll pass. In the meantime... Who is it?" The last part the zombie added quickly and eagerly.

"Not telling. It might make it worse,"

"Oh, come on!"

"No," She said firmly. "Besides, even if he liked me back, which he doesn't, I CAN'T date him! I'm in an arranged marriage, Mantha, my life course has already been decide _for_ me, and like I said before, I had no say in the matter!"

"Well, maybe it's time you let some other secrets of yours out... Obviously, you've got to much weight on your shoulders. And besides... It isn't like I don't already know who it is!"

"W-what?"

"You heard me! EVERYBODY knows! In fact, I think the only ones who DON'T notice are you two! And you know what? You're such a cute couple together!"

"S-shut up!"

"Ashia's in love!"

"I SAID SHUT UP, WOMAN!"

"Heh..."

~~~On Day of Full Moon~~~

"Ugh. Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" Ashia screamed, glaring at the mirror. "I HATE this! I HATE IT! I wish I could just be a _normal_ creature!"

"Normal? And why would you want that?" Monico asked, interrupting her self pity session.

"Have YOU ever tried dealing with my life?"

"What you need is a make over!" Mickey exclaimed, and both "skeletwins" clasped their bony hands together gleefully, completely ignoring that fact that Ashia was currently a "fleshie." "THAT will make you feel better!"

"Yes, let's go!" They proceeded to drag their unwilling victim away.

"GAH! THE HORROR!"

"This is going to be so fun!" Twittered the twins.

"Just... Kill me now..."

Over the course of several hours, (It being a weekend and several classes having been canceled due to an unknown slimy, sticky substance coating the walls, ceilings and floors, which had now acquired the nickname, "Spider Glue,") Mickey and Monico forced Ashia into every outfit and get up imaginable, and then some, as the skeletons decided to use the girl's moonlight weakness and fleshie appearance to their advantage. Apparently they were too shallow to care about her current appearance; that, she appreciated, but not so much the make over...

As soon as the other girls' backs were turned, debating over the use of fairy pink or sky blue lipstick, she made a break for it. Ashia managed to get all of the make up off with her friends' help, minus Wolfie because of his crazy state at the moment.

"What's with the twitching?"

"I can't... get the horror... Out of my head..."

"...Oh come on, it couldn't have been that bad!"

"This is MICKEY and MONICO we're talking about! Of COURSE it was that bad!" Ashia shuddered and took a bite of her sandwich, letting her eyes wander over to the corner, where a certain were-puppy was gnawing on a safety cone and emitting loud, playful growls... That is, until anyone got too close, at which point he snapped and snarled until they backed a good distance away.

"I'll bet you've got it so bad, you even find THAT attractive!" Mantha teased.

"What're you talking about?" Ashia blushed, which made her female friend smirk in victory.

"You're blushing!"

"Wha...? No I'm not! There must be some of Mickey and Monico's blush left behind! I'm gonna go... Wash it off..."

The famous 3-way hybrid beat a hasty retreat.

"_GRRRR! What's wrong with me? I know this is wrong! I'm supposed to marry Griffinheart! I don't have any control over this situation! And I can't just stand up to Uncle K and refuse! I don't have a reason that he deems good enough, he'll never listen_!" She shook her head violently, then hid her face in her hands.

"_For the love of Lucifer! What's happening to me? I must still be shocked from what happened yesterday... Yes, that's it. I got jolted so bad that now I'm automatically looking for someone to lean on! I'm fine, I'm fine... It's not love_,"

She touched her cheek. It was burning hot. "_We're just friends_..."

"_Good friends_..."

"_But does it really have to stay that way? It isn't fair_!"

"..._No, it's NOT fair. Because, truth is_..."

"..._I __am__ in love_!"

Ashia Marie Kyrier was in love.

(**No, I did NOT mean to get too sappy in this chapter, but it was hard not to under the circumstances, so cut me some slack.**

**K T: I noticed! And yes, Ashia can be pretty scary when she's mad... And she's not the only one, but I don't want to give away too many spoilers! ;)**

**Did anybody else notice that Thatch didn't directly show up in this chapter AT ALL? Anybody? Anybody? Because if you did... He's still recovering; excused from classes until he heals up a bit. Poor pompous vampire bully! XP No, actually, Thatch is my favorite character! And Wolfie, obviously. So I couldn't let him get too seriously hurt, now, could I? X3**)


	8. Unfolding

_**Chapter 8. Unfolding**_

Several days after the incident, during the week after the annual full moon, Ashia learned to control herself around her best friend; if they had no chance together anyway, there wasn't any point in pushing him away as a friend. She cherished all her friends!

"...Just this last bit, and... DONE!" She exclaimed. Both miniature scientists stood back proudly to view their work. The experiment was finally finished! Now all they had to do was to wait until the full moon returned and collect the results afterward.

"You know, last time the full moon was up, I think I can actually recall some things!"

"Really? How much?" Ashia asked nervously, returning her beloved screwdriver to her pocket.

"Not much... I remember you staring at me and blushing..." He gave her a curious, questioning look.

"Eheh... Mickey and Monico caught me. Some of their blush was left over; it's why I left right after that, remember?"

"Oh..." Wolfie looked a little dejected, and she couldn't help but wonder why. But then he was back to the same old werewolf he always was, leaving Ashia confused. Oh, well. Maybe something came up?

"Well, we did it! Now we just need to use it. And when we do... We're going to be the first creatures ever to capture and study moonlight!"

"And maybe we can find an easy cure for what happens to me every month!"

"And me!" The two high fived, but Ashia thought to herself, "_I've already got a way... But I don't know if I can do it_!"

Her fingers moved toward the amulet on her neck.

~~~Later~~~

"Hey, what's his problem?" Ashia asked, pointing toward Thatch as she drank her blood at lunch.

"He's scared of you, Ash! You nearly killed him!" Wolfie reminded her.

"I know I was scared!" Triclops admitted shyly. Ashia and Wolfie didn't always sit with Casper and friends, but they did always sit together.

"Sorry,"

Thatch had received two black eyes, (which had cleared fairly well by now) as well as a limp and a bandaged arm, and he was still covered in the deeper scratches. But nothing seemed bad enough to scar, thankfully. Although, he wasn't happy about his bandaged arm... Because his arms became his wings when he transformed, an injured arm meant and injured wing, and an injured wing meant no flying. But he was excused from Gym class, and wasn't considered late even if he got to class long after it had already started, which was nice, because he moved slower with the limp. (He could still move between classes just fine, but he chose to take advantage of the injury anyway.)

Everyone was even more timid around Ashia now, like she was a ticking time bomb of rage and violence. But that didn't stop them from sitting with her when there were no other good seats. Thatch, however, refused to go near her. He sent plenty of nervous, frightened looks her way whenever she was in the vicinity. It was almost worst than be bullied... In fact, it WAS worse! She sighed.

"I think I might actually have to apologize to the jerk,"

"You did attack him,"

"He was bullying you!"

"Yeah, but I'M not the one who went crazy, now, am I?" She sighed again.

"You're right. Of course you're right. But... He won't even come near me!"

"And he won't, never again; not until you say sorry and give him a chance to feel like the superior. You know how Thatch is!"

"Yeah... But I'd rather be bullied than have them all scared of me!"

"Then say sorry,"

"I will. Just not now..."

"Why not? Now's the perfect time. You're at your weakest, that'll put him at the advantage; and we both know he'd never ignore that,"

"Exactly. I don't want to be seen as a threat, but I'm finally something other than inferior!"

"What do you care what Thatch thinks about you?" Traces of venom laced her friend's words, and she stared at him incredulously. Was Wolfie... Jealous?

"Um... I don't care what he thinks, it's more of a... Pride issue on my part. If even Thatch can't call me inferior, then no one can, is one way of looking at it," She sighed inwardly as the werewolf relaxed. He could be surprisingly scary when he got angry...

"Well, then "issue" is the key word here,"

"I know; but I CAN use it to my advantage sometimes..."

"Ash..." He chuckled.

"Okayyyyy..." She sighed dramatically. "I'll apologize later,"

"Ash!"

"I will!"

When lunch was over, Ashia took a deep breath, and waited outside for the slower vampire to exit. Otherwise, she would have to chase him to get him cornered, and she didn't want to bother. The door opened, and Thatch jumped violently at the sight of her, although he was already trying to give her a look of contempt.

"Hey Thatch,"

"What're you here for?" Dummy Girl asked in a hostile tone. "Waiting for another chance to attack, fleshie girl?"

"No, and I'm not here to talk to you!" She retorted. Mosshead and Slither shared a look; they were probably both thinking, "Uh oh... Chick fight!"

"Well, I'm here. What do you want?" Thatch asked impatiently, but a little nervous at the same time. Yep... He was still scared. Even in this form. Oh boy...

"I'm sorry,"

"..._What_?"

"You heard me! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to attack you, but you shouldn't have pushed me so far!"

"ME? So now it's MY fault you're an overprotective girlfriend?"

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"

"Are you sure? Because that's not what he said,"

"W-what?" She knew that whatever the bully was going to say was most likely a lie, but she couldn't help herself. She wanted to know, wanted to hear it, and most importantly... She wanted it to be true.

"Oops, guess I said too much!" Taunted her enemy playfully. "Oh well. He probably already told you anyway,"

"Told me WHAT?"

"He didn't, then. And I thought you two were close... Guess I was wrong, huh guys?" His friends all nodded in agreement. Despite the fact that the rational, logical voice was there in her head, it was completely overridden and forgotten.

"He... What?" She asked weakly. Thatch and his gang laughed, and walked past her, with their leader saying some hurtful words over his shoulder as they left...

"I guess Wolfie isn't interested in a girl who goes Fleshie once a month! He's probably got his eye on someone else, anyway,"

"..." Ashia turned and ran. She rushed into the girl's room, jumped into her coffin, and slammed the lid shut with such force, it was amazing that the strong wood didn't shatter. She skipped her classes, knowing full well that no one would punish her for it, and stayed locked up in her own private world there for quite some time. In between classes, her friends attempted to coax her out, but she resisted. No one heard her crying... She made sure of that.

After a time, however, once night had fallen and all of the others had gone to sleep, she grew tired of this... Having slept a little during the day, she was fully awake and fully charged... And having gotten a grip on herself once again... She was bored.

"Mantha?" She whispered, shoving the other girl's arm lightly. The zombie mumbled something incoherent that sounded suspiciously like a name... And a familiar one at that; one that began with a C.

"Mantha!" She tried again, this time a tone louder and a bit harsher, shaking the girl roughly. Mantha scowled.

"Hmmmm? What? Is the school burning down?"

"Unfortunately, no. Do you want to know how I got my coffin... And all my things... Into Scare School without anyone noticing?" She grinned as her friend sat up, much more awake.

"You're finally going to tell me?"

"No, but I'm finally going to show you! Help me get the guys up, and let's meet outside... Harpy's the only one out there, we just need to avoid the woods and not wake her up," Mantha nodded in agreement and slipped out of bed.

About ten minutes later, the boys were up and the group was sneaking through the darkened hallways. They were almost spotted by a couple of gargoyles on patrol, but fortunately, the stone creatures were paying more attention to their conversation with one another than the school halls... Ashia and Casper both instantly winked out of sight, while the others slipped into a conveniently placed closet to escape detection.

Once outside, Ashia winked at the inquiring faces of her companions, and reached into her pocket, withdrawing her hand with her fist clenched around a small, silver metal box.

"What's that?" Ra frowned in confusion.

"It looks almost like the timer you gave me! What does it do?"

"Just watch!" She replied slyly, turning it over in her palm to reveal a deep, ocean blue button. After a quick press, Ashia reached out and deliberately dropped the object to the ground, where to their amazement, it expanded rapidly, and unfolded into an entire miniature laboratory. Take that back... It wasn't just a LABARATORY, it was... A bedroom! "...I like to bring my room WITH me wherever I go!" She explained proudly.

"Whoa, did you really MAKE all this?" Ra asked incredulously.

"You invented all of THIS?" Wolfie added his own question before she had a chance to answer Ra's.

"Yep! This is my proudest work; probably because it's never done! I'm forever adding things, tweaking them, fixing them, upgrading... Well, I think you get the idea. I just... Got so bored staring at the wall..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Casper, as you know, I... Never really ever LEFT home after I realized everyone only pretended to "like" me to get on Uncle K's good side. That's why I never had any friends, besides Sara, and now you guys! I stayed indoors constantly, until now..."

"What about your parents?"

"M-my... Parents are... Are... C-can we not talk about this?" She knew the meaning behind the looks her friends were now exchanging, but she didn't want to say it, didn't want to hear it... Because in her mind, she was able to push it away, deny that it was true. If she were to admit it aloud... That illusion would be dispelled. Lies! Her life held so many LIES!

Instead of pressing her further, her friends went back to ogling the many gadgets and trinkets that adorned her portable "room..." Which she informed them had been dubbed... By herself, of course... The "I.M.P," or "Infinite Margin Portable."

The I.M.P opened up into a tall, wide work desk, with a large computer screen (also could serve as a TV when desired) with no mouse, simply a keyboard build into the desk, sporting more than simply letters and numbers... There were many other buttons of various colors and sizes, some with lights, that could be used for unknown purposes. Ashia typed something with practiced skill, and the screen flipped around into a regular wall, completely coated in notes and blueprints. The keyboard, too, flipped, revealing a clear open space for her to work on.

"But how do you change it back?"

"Just watch; computer, bookshelf please," The wall once again flipped around, and the desktop folded downward and turned, matching up with the former wall and creating a complete bookshelf. "Go ahead... Take one!" The vampiress prompted. Mantha reached forward and took a book down.

"It's solid! But... How did it fit in there? You've got more inside the I.M.P than should be physically possible!"

"At the heart of the I.M.P is a vortex of compressed dimensional energy; by forcing controlled doses of electricity into the vortex, I can manipulate it and cause it to bring forth and replace any one object with another which has already been placed anywhere along the infinite frequency that the I.M.P connects to!"

"Wolfie, translation to English, please," Ra asked.

"There's a portal inside the machine, and by pumping electricity in the right amounts, at the right places, she can make it close and open up to whatever place she wants. She just puts things inside it on one dimensional plain, and when she runs out of room there, moves to another one, and she can access the previous areas whenever she wants to. That's how the I.M.P can hold so much stuff and still fold in on itself to become so tiny it fits into her pocket so easily. It's like a big, fancy, infinity box, but without any magical enchantments to rely on!"

"That's right!" Ashia beamed. "And even if I don't get around to fixing something, the computer can be set into a mode in which it repairs itself. There's no magic involved, so you don't need to worry about others spells nearby causing interference, or enchantments wearing off and needing to be replaced. And automatic repairs are always done using materials gathered from other dimensional plains, so it's much cheaper than going out and buying parts! In fact, it's completely free! It doesn't even need to be plugged in, recharged, or anything! Don't get me wrong, magic is nice, but don't you agree this is better?"

"Where does the power come from, if you don't ever plug it in or charge it?"

"It generates its own power, using the force of the vortex's unending swirling motions!"

"...The portal inside spins around and makes electricity, Ra,"

"I KNOW that! I understood what she said!"

"Just checking,"

Ashia giggled, which was a bit out of character, but went more or less unnoticed. She proceeded to show them some of the machine's many capabilities well into the night, until they were all forced to head back to bed before they collapsed where they were standing. The I.M.P still had more to show, seeing as Ashia had worked on it for centuries now, but it would have to wait...

"_I'm just glad they liked it so much! Now there's one less secret between us all_," Ashia thought to herself, pleased as she lay back in her coffin. She gave a happy, contented sigh, and fell swiftly but softly into sleep.

"_That was incredible! I can't believe she hasn't captured any moonlight yet! She's so talented, but she hides so much... I know there's still something more she's not telling us, but what? It must have something to do with her parents, and what moonlight does to her, and why her hands always instinctively go to her amulet when she's feeling insecure or threatened... But, I'm her best friend! Why won't she just TELL me?_" Wolfie whimpered softly. He wanted her to trust him... But she just wouldn't open up! She kept so much hidden from him, what more did he have to do?

"_What more do I have to do?_"

(**Thank you all for waiting so patiently! [I hope.] I know, it took awhile, but I have good reasons! Just... Gimme a minute... Nope, I got nothin'...**

**...Anywho! Now you know about the I.M.P! What did you think? I thought the name was pretty clever, myself... Wow, lots of dot-dot-dots! XP**

**K T: Yeah, especially when they're made of bones and have the skeletwin's fashion sense! No offense to those who like it, it's just a little too light and intricate for me... And don't worry about Thatch! We all know that boy'll bounce back quick! XD**

**cant think of a name right now: Thank you! Heh heh...I agree, nobody likes that nurse! Well... Except for maybe me! "...Where did he go? Kids just don't know what's GOOD for them these days..." Lol! I feel sadistic now... O.o**

**...Long end note... I'll shut up now... Maybe...**

**REVIEW! X3**)


	9. Forbidden Desire

_**Chapter 9: Forbidden Desire**_

Time passed; Ashia couldn't help but wonder just how much truth had been in her enemy's words, but she knew better than to assume there was any at all. She told herself that after all, this was _Thatch_ for Underworld's sake! NOTHING he said could be trusted! But still...

Shaking her head to try and clear the thoughts from her mind, the vampiress heard a shout and came to her senses just in time to see Dummygirl, almost certainly by Thatch's orders, had stuck her foot out to trip Triclops, who of course had shouted and ended up sprawled out on the floor with her books and papers flying everywhere. One of the textbooks skidded out and crashed into Ashia, whose own momentum, sadly, did NOT decide to defy gravity today. It all happened so fast, she even forgot she had powers!

She instinctively grasped her amulet with one hand and squeezed her eyes shut, mentally preparing herself for impact with the ground, but it never came. After a moment, when she realized that she was no longer falling, but stable, she tentatively opened her eyes to see what was going on... And immediately felt her cheeks get hot as she blushed a deep crimson red.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Asked Wolfie worriedly. He had managed to catch her and stop her fall, and she now found herself in the werewolf's arms with her head on his chest. She pulled away quickly, not noticing that he was blushing too.

Thatch and his friends roared with laughter, and the bully high fived his female friend with his good arm. Ashia scowled angrily at the other vampire, but this time it was Wolfie who was growling. She stared at him in surprise, and apparently their enemies were surprised (and intimidated) too. They hastily slipped away, quite fast despite their leader's "injuries."

"You know, I'M the one who should be mad at them, I'M the one who tripped!" She informed her close friend.

"You stood up for me, why shouldn't I stand up for you?" He retorted, and not finding anything good to answer with, she left it at that.

"So, what about your "resistance" project?" Ashia joked, trying to ignore the fact that she had recently found herself with a temporary inability to **breathe**.

"I can remember SMALL bits and pieces of things from during 'those times'," Wolfie informed her happily.

"Bits and pieces?" She teased.

"Don't push it," But he grinned just the same.

"Alright. And hey, we can FINALLY capture some moonlight 3 days from now!"

"I can't wait! We're going to make history!"

"And maybe we'll be able to reverse the moon's effects!"

"'Kyrier and Howl's patented moonscreen; guaranteed to deflect moonlight'," He joked, and both friends erupted into laughter.

"I like the sound of that!"

~~~3 Days Later~~~

Ashia sighed, bored, as she sat with Casper, Mantha, and Ra. Wolfie was going nuts over the safety cones in his corner again, which the headmasters had to constantly replace to keep him busy over there. He actually had to go and sleep in the corner the night of the full moon, since he would likely be affected by the time he woke up, possibly even before. She didn't dare stare at him even in his crazed state, so she was stuck with nothing to do and no one to talk to... Well, aside from the three she was now sitting with, but she had to reword a lot of her own dialogue whenever the topic strayed to close to science and related subjects. It got tedious.

"I hate the moon... I hate this part of the month... I hate moon_light_, I hate it's rays, I hate not being able to be anywhere near my best friend right now, I hate having to repeat myself all the time, I hate not having my smaller projects or notebook with me right now, I hate homework, I hate school, I hate arranged marriages, I hate Uncle K, I hate being bored, I hate not seeing Sara in so long, I hate, I hate, I hate..." She droned dejectedly. Casper gave her a look.

"You're being awful pessimistic,"

"I can't help it; it's the moonlight. It makes me hate,"

"Somehow, I doubt that..."

"...Says the ghost who could find sunshine 6,000 miles underground..."

"ASH!" All three friends scolded at once.

"I CAN'T HELP IT!"

Well... Maybe she could, if she tried, but she was too down TO try... Which was messed up and she knew it, but oh well. She lived. But the hours inched by so slowly she almost wondered if her own extended creature lifespan... Which technically didn't end anyway, being part ghost... was already over and dried up. Eventually, classes ended and everyone hung out and studied for a short while, as if having an extra, extended study hall (which by the way wasn't much of a "class,") and were soon headed for their respective beds, trees, or coffins, etc.

"So, Ash... Got any more secrets?" Probed Mantha eagerly, looking sorely disappointed when she shook her head with a smile.

"Nope, sorry!"

"Oh, come on! There must be something!"

"Nada!"

"What about your parents?" The smile dropped off Ashia's face immediately. "They weren't... Bad... Were they?"

"No! No, of course not! It's just... Well... It's nothing, really,"

"You're lying,"

"What? No I'm not!"

"Yes you are! I can tell!"

"Look, just drop it, okay?"

"Come on, I won't tell the guys!"

"I SAID DROP IT!"

"Ash?"

"..."

"Ash, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to, pressure you, or anything..."

"It's alright; it's a touchy subject,"

"That's why I asked,"

"I know. Just, please leave it alone, okay?"

"Fine. For now,"

"Thanks,"

Ashia closed the lid to her coffin and waited until she thought she heard Mantha's breathing slow, signaling that she was asleep. She then snuck out, careful not to be seen or caught by the gargoyles or her fellow classmates. She breathed a deep sigh of relief once she was outdoors, because she really didn't think Harpy would catch her out here and the fresh air felt good, a cool breeze caressing her skin, moon shining down in that serene way that always made her forgive it for what it did to her. After all... The moon was at it's best when she was at her worst, at it's prettiest when she was at her ugliest.

She strolled down to the docks and had a quick chat with the sea monster, even though it generally did not have much to say; after all, it could only communicate through body language! Only a few creatures could understand it's speech. And after the sea monster dove back under, she simply sat at the end of the dock, feet dangling, knowing that the biggest, most dangerous threat in the water was on her side, and nothing else there... If there was anything else... Could or wanted to hurt her.

Wolfie stretched, standing outside the entrance to the scare school, glad to be in control of his own body again. He didn't hate the moon... It looked pretty tonight, almost full, so that he could pretend it still was and he wasn't going crazy. He really didn't care about never seeing a true full moon... It was the loss of control and lack of memory he feared! What if he accidentally hurt someone? Or worst, someone he _cared_ about? His _friends_?

The werewolf took his time wandering about in the breeze, taking a break, happy to get some peace and quiet in this otherwise bustling place. He froze when he came to the docks and caught sight of the figure at the end of it, her back to him and a soft, sweet melody drifting back over her shoulder as she hummed to herself. Having become a "fleshie" for a time himself before reverting back, he knew what it felt like and viewed her human form in a far different light.

He debated whether he should turn and leave now, or move forward and make his presence known on purpose, so as not to be a total stalker; he went with plan B.

"Hey Ash,"

"!" Ashia jumped, startled, and nearly fell off the dock if it weren't for Wolfie's quick thinking; he grabbed her and yanked her back roughly, even as the sea monster poked his head up as if to say, "Am I needed here? No? Okay, 'bye," before it ducked back into his private, watery world.

"Thanks, that would've been... Would've been..."

"Wet?" He suggested, and they both laughed.

"Yes, that!" Ashia resettled herself were she had been and Wolfie sat down and joined her. "I came out here to get away for a while... You?"

"Same,"

For a while, all was silent, but in a good, comfortable way, each merely enjoying the others' presence. Finally, Wolfie caught sight of her staring into space with her hand clasped over her amulet, and he knew things were not as they should be.

"Ash?"

"Oh, heh heh, am I doing it again, I'm sorry!" She chuckled nervously. He was not amused, nor convinced.

"Ash, cut it out; I know something is wrong, and if you can't trust me enough to even tell me, then something's worse, and we shouldn't be friends,"

"WHAT?" She looked panic stricken and hurt, staring at him with eyes the size of saucers.

"You're hiding something! I know it, you know it; don't pretend like you don't know!" He growled a little as he spoke, then added quietly, "I want you to trust me, what more do I have to do? Please, just trust me!"

"But... But I DO trust you!"

"Then you don't trust me enough,"

"..." Ashia sighed, and looked away, staring down at her hands in her lap. "It isn't you, it's not your fault; it's me, I'M the one who doesn't want to talk about it. If I talk about it, I'll think about it, if I think about it, I'll relive it... And I don't want to do that,"

"...Not even for me? For your best friend?"

"I... Well..." She glanced down at her amulet and sighed again. "Wolfie, do you know why the moonlight affects me?"

"Because you're part werewolf?"

"Well yes, that too, but do you know why it does THIS instead of what it does to you?" She gestured to herself at the word "this," and at him at the word "you."

"...No,"

"It has to do with my genes; I have three, as you know. Vampire, ghost, and werewolf. Well, normally the vampire gene dominates the other two and gets between them, so they don't mix. But on the full moon, my vampiric gene gets forced into temporary, usually week long submission, which this amulet can shorten to only three days. So when that gene backs away, the ghost and werewolf gene clash, creating... What you see now,"

"But why?"

"Ghosts are dead, werewolves are living, but vampires are _un_dead, which is essentially both. It's compatible with them, and keeps them stable," She explained, to which her male companion nodded. "But remove that barrier, and the living and dead combine, and it isn't stable any more. It becomes unstable, and eventually both create something halfway between, a compromise. The live werewolf genes bring the dead ghost ones back to live, making me, for the time being anyway, a fleshie,"

"So your vampire gene isn't strong enough to withstand the pressure of the moonlight? I would think it would be unaffected,"

"You would think that, but my werewolf side is what starts it, acting up and getting stronger, which throws both of the others off balance,"

"Then that makes a lot more sense,"

"When I was born, I already had this curse in me. A witch came to my parents and told them she could reverse it, but that in doing so she would bring about my early demise. Naturally, they refused, just as the witch had expected, according to what she told them. Instead, she gave them an amulet... _My_ amulet, and said to use it times of trouble when "the curse that was a blessing" was inconvenient and unneeded,"

"But why would you ever need it?"

"That's what they said. But all she told them was that the curse (well, not literally, but still! I hate it,) would save my life one day. And it did! But it didn't save theirs,"

"What happened?" Wolfie asked softly.

"..." Ashia looked down again, saddened. "Creature Hunters. The Creature Catchers that kill,"

"Oh, no..."

"Oh, yes. They obviously knew all about us, they were perfectly prepared, but they didn't know about me, and my transformation. They figured I had left, that they had missed me. Of course, it's no use seeking out my revenge, they're already dead," She laughed dryly. "They defeated my family, but they couldn't defeat time. Some died at their job, a few might have made it to retirement and old age, but they're all gone now. An arrow, the head rubbed in garlic, struck my Father in the chest. Even if it hadn't hit his heart, he would have died. Garlic is like poison to vampires, like the bite of a snake or spider to a human. Paralysis, then death. One took a silver cross to my Mother,"

Wolfie shuddered. He knew what silver _inside_ a werewolf or werewolf hybrid's body would do. It made that creature deathly ill, a sickness which would kill unless small enough and treated in time.

"My sister... Well, she had all the weaknesses of our parents, so they staked her through the heart, and the stake was rubbed in garlic, as well. But me... Well, they attacked on a full moon, thinking it would give them the advantage. Werewolves are stronger then, but not in a logical state of mind, as you know. And... Well, they..."

"They thought you were one of them!"

"Exactly! They thought they had "liberated" me, they even decided my crying and screaming was due to hysteria, panic, shock, and fear. And they were going to test me to make sure I was alright and healthy, not sick, malnourished, or experimented on before I slipped away when they weren't looking. They couldn't find me, and it's just as well," She was silent for a minute, a single tear rolled down her cheek. "I never got to say goodbye... And they're gone... Just... G-gone..." She chocked on her last words, and the world began to swim before her eyes. "M-mom, D-dad, T-trililly..."

Wolfie sympathetically rubbed her back and waited for her to pull herself back together. But instead, the girl threw herself at her friend and began to wail, burying herself in his fur, which of course left him red faced and flustered. He hesitantly stroked her hair and murmured reassuringly into her ear, wishing more than anything that he could bear this pain for her.

"The amulet..." He whispered. "Is that the answer?"

"I-it will strengthen my vampire gene permanently, and it will make all three mature and powerful. I-I will be able, b-be able to go into any of the three forms, a-and I'll never b-be affected by moonlight a-again!" She choked between cries and sobs. "I-I want it GONE! Like them, GONE! It's all because o-of this _stupid_ curse of mine that they died! And I didn't! I would have g-gone with them! I was HELPLESS! All I could do was... W-was WATCH!"

"Then finish the amulet. It's only missing one slot, right? All you need to do is get a sapphire fitted to it!"

"N-NO! The amulet... Is to show me my directions! I-it's my life compass! E-every... Every time I make the right life changing decision, the n-next piece appears, b-but, w-what if g-getting married to Griffinheart is the WRONG thing to do? I'll be chained to a jerk I don't even... Don't even love, and I m-might NEVER be free! E-EVER!"

"Is that the only reason you're against it?" He asked in surprise and disappointment.

"O-of course not! I can't marry s-someone I don't love! And... And I don't love Griffinheart. I love someone else," Her tears were drying now, but tears still streamed down her face, eyes red, and not in the way they usually were. She was on the verge of another, fresh wave of sorrow. "I c-c-can't even b-be with the one I r-really d-do love b-because of G-griffinheart!" Suddenly, she burst out angrily, "CURSE YOU, JOEY GRIFFINHEART!"

"A-ash... If you don't mind my asking... Who DO you love?" Wolfie really didn't think the answer would matter... His heart had already shattered anyway. So she loved someone... There was no way it could be him. Not that they could ever be with the arranged marriage in the first place, but still, he had his daydreams. His dark, selfish fantasies...

"I... I..." She stammered cheeks reddening. He sighed.

"That's okay; you don't have to tell me,"

"W-wolfie..."

"What is it, Ashia?"

"It's you,"

"_**WHAT?**_" He felt as though he was about to have a heart attack, though he didn't know how he felt that way since he'd never had one before... It must have been the same reasoning that made strawberry flavored... Not actually taste like real strawberries. Heart pounding, mind racing, and eyes wide, he really couldn't say anything else. But Ashia winced painfully, and pulled away.

"I'm sorry... I should have known better... I didn't mean to...I should've kept it to myself! I mean, I'm sorry..." She turned away, shaking, and because of this she didn't see the huge, stupid grin that appeared on the werewolf's face. He was glad for that... He must've looked like a dork.

"Ash..." He watched as she fearfully turned to look at him again, obviously embarrassed and afraid. What she wasn't expecting was to have her best friend tilt her head, lean in, and kiss her.

Her eyes grew as big as they could possibly go, and she literally stopped breathing, and for one terrible, delightful, bittersweet instant, her heart actually stopped and skipped a beat. The world froze and melted away in her mind as she slowly closed her eyes and kissed back.

It wasn't anything too special, just the simply pressing of one's lips together, but it left them both breathless and satisfied, and said more than words could express. Both smiling, Ashia moved back into Wolfie's arms and stayed there for the rest of the night, the two only leaving the other's side when it came time to head back before the others could wake up and catch them.

They were like Romeo and Juliet, not much of a chance, but not a care in mind about it either. They couldn't stop.

It was forbidden, but it was sweet.

(**Should I even say anything here? Alright, here goes... SORRY, no make out! I just don't see them as the type to jump into that sort of thing... Thatch might, but not Wolfie. I'm listening to Within Temptation right now, it influenced a bit of the chapter... GO WT! Enough about me, on to the reviews! X3**

**cant think of a name right now: No they cannot! Lol. =P**

**Angel15Rocks: Thank you! I understand you are new(er) to reading this story, so thank you for giving it a go!**

**K T 129: (Sorry, I'll answer your reviews privately from now on since you have an account now!) Oh he was lying, of course he was. Although everyone at Scare School already knows they like each other, so he was PARTIALLY right. If you're an enemy of his, you generally DON'T want to listen to what he says... And thanks, she probably will! But that's only if she can avoid marrying Griffinheart, and that's a MAJOR obstacle! You'll just have to wait and see! ;]**

**By the way everybody, any ideas on what sort of creature Griffinheart will be? Give me your thoughts when (And I DO mean when!) you review by clicking that little button down there! You see it? It says, "Review." DO AS IT COMMANDS!**

**...I have finished ranting. You may review now. =3**)


	10. Withstand the Storm

_**Chapter 10. Withstand the Storm**_

"You want me to WHAT?" Wolfie cried.

"Ashia won't listen to me, but maybe YOU can talk some sense into her!" Kibosh explained. "Just, TRY and get her to ACCEPT the current situation!"

"But... But I..."

"I know you'll be able to do it,"

"I... I..." The large green ghost eyed him intensely, and the poor werewolf shook nervously. He gulped. "Er... I... Can try, I guess... I-I can't guarantee anything..."

"That's good enough for me," The King of the Underworld seemed to have no idea that he was taking advantage of the student's timid nature. He turned away and stared out the window of Alder and Dash's office, which was made in the likeness of a cat's eye.

Wolfie left the office confused; he couldn't actually TALK to her about that, but he couldn't disobey the powerful figure. Only one thing left to do... The old, "Let's not and say we did," tactic.

"_I can't ask her to be okay with it; I'M not okay with it! How can I be, when I'm in love with her myself?_"

"Wolfie!" He almost winced, as much as he loved the sound of her voice. Ashia, back to normal, swooped down in her bat form and transformed into a vampiress, looking both happy to see him and worried. "What did the headmasters have to say? You aren't in trouble, are you?"

"It wasn't the headmasters... It was your uncle," Instantly the smile dropped off her face.

"Uncle K? What would HE want YOU for?"

"Listen, I'm not going to go through with it, but he asked me to talk to you about "accepting the current situation," I'm sure you understand what he means, about Griffinheart. And he doesn't know... That... Yet,"

"You aren't... Wolfie!"

"What? I said I wasn't going to! Look, if he asks... Say I was pretty convincing," Ashia shook her head with a smile and laughed, proceeding to give him a quick hug.

"You're the best!"

"C-could you let go now, people are starting to stare!"

"So? I've taken to hugging everyone. They all think I'm in a hugging phase,"

"You are,"

"See? Nothing to worry about,"

"Whatever you say, Ash..."

"...Dad always used that line on Mom to keep her happy!"

"It's too bad, since we'll never...You know..."

"Yeah..." Both looking down, a bit dejected, but it didn't last long. They were both too excited at what their experiment had accomplished; the results were a complete success! A full (Yes, FULL,) infinity box of pure moonlight! And they were in the process of studying it now... So far, they had found out quite a lot of things, and it was only a matter of time before they found a solution to the moonlight problem.

"I am so PROUD of you two!" Professor Burns exclaimed at their discoveries. "Students of MINE, making such ADVANCES is the field of SCIENCE! It is always GRATIFYING!"

"_Yeah, but only because you give yourself some of the credit for it_," Thought both junior scientists. The professor left them to their own devices and the two continued with their research.

"Doesn't it look bright? Rays of moonlight are pretty intense; but I guess they DO have to travel to Earth from the Moon!" Ashia commented, peering into the microscope at a sample of moonlight energy. Then it was Wolfie's turn, and he inspected the same sample thoroughly.

"Yeah, I don't even want to THINK about how bright and powerful it would be straight off the surface of the Moon itself!" He shivered, and she laughed at his words.

"You already ARE thinking about it!"

"...I said I didn't WANT to think about it, not that I wouldn't anyway!"

With another laugh and a smile, she rolled her eyes and playfully punched his arm. Meanwhile, off in the distance, Griffinheart was getting impatient...

Kibosh eyed his sandwich suspiciously, waiting to see if anything weird would happen this time. Once, he had been about to take a bite of his lunch when all of a sudden another creature popped out of nowhere, disappearing just as fast and leaving him startled and with bits of sandwich all over the place; he had never been the same since that day. Once satisfied that no one was going to jump out of his food, he prepared once more to take a bite... Only to have an all too familiar face appear, knocking his food from his hands.

"Kibosh, I want my payment NOW!"

"But... But my niece is still in school!"

"Then pull her out. What are you waiting for? I've got an army that can be easily manipulated to do my bidding, and you want to put the entire Underworld at stake so your little precious can finish a school year? Pathetic,"

"Ashia deserves to have a good education! She's a very bright girl..."

"...Yeah, yeah, I know. She's smart, she's beautiful, and SHE'S MINE! Either bring me my angel or our little deal's off, 'King of the Underworld',"

"...But..." The ghost sighed in defeat. "Fine. But this is the last of it, do you understand? I will NOT cater to your needs any longer!"

"That's fine, Kibosh. Just fine. As long as I get your niece's hand in marriage,"

"You will..."

"_Fabulous_!"

~~~At Scare School~~~

Kibosh hovered before the headmaster's nervously, and his insecurity did not go (completely) unnoticed.

"Kibosh, sir, what's wrong? Did the Underworld Prison have a massive breakout? Are dangerous, lung devouring demons running loose? Will they steal all our left socks?" The two headed creature asked, Alder and Dash alternating between suggestions. Kibosh sighed, and shook his head, too stressed to yell at them. Ashia would NOT take this well! Not at all!

"It's Griffinheart. The nightwalker wants his bride delivered early, and you know what he's capable of doing if we refuse," The ghost nodded grimly as both headmasters gulped in sync.

"We'll call Ashia to our office immediately..."

"No. I need to tell her myself. But here is the paperwork in advance. Just... Don't be alarmed if she doesn't _cooperate_," Seeing their confused faces, he gave a quick, frustrated explanation... "She'll put up one heck of a fight,"

"ASH! ASH!"

"What?" Ashia turned at the sound of Mantha, Ra, and Casper's voices.

"Your uncle's coming!" Casper informed her.

"And he's looking for you! He doesn't look too happy, either," Mantha warned, causing Ashia to get a little cross.

"Oh, what is it NOW?" She grumbled, but she felt nervous just the same.

"It might have to do with Griffinheart!" Ra put in. She tensed.

"It can't. He can't. I don't leave until summer!" She protested. "It must be something else," But she couldn't think of an alternative reason for him to show up.

"Ashia... Ah, there you are!" Kibosh greeted her as politely as possible, trying to suck up to keep her calm. Unfortunately, she saw straight through the ruse, as many are wont to do.

"What are you doing here, Uncle K?" She hissed coldly.

"Ashia, don't, you know it's not my fault..."

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE? TELL ME OR GET LOST!" She shouted. Her uncle winced, but stood his ground.

"...He's changed his demands... He won't wait any longer... He wants you now,"

Ashia froze, and her heart stopped for a fraction of a second. Her mouth moved to form the word "No," but no sound came out. Beside her, Wolfie looked like he wanted to either throw up or pass out, hopefully not both, but then he did something that shocked them all... He slipped his paw into Ashia's hand, squeezed it, and leaned in to whisper something in her ear that no one else heard...

"Withstand the storm... We'll do it together!"

She glanced at his face, startled, and he nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. She slowly returned it; if Wolfie could do it, so could she! Standing straight and confidently, she and Wolfie strode forward together and in unison, said simply,

"No,"

Kibosh blinked. No, this wasn't right... He couldn't... But he had no choice! He shook his head, which hurt enough without this extra obstacle.

"I'll kill that blasted Griffinheart..." He muttered. "...For putting me through this..." He stared at his niece for a moment, before Casper suddenly flew to join them, followed closely by Mantha and Ra. As students began to flood into the room to watch the scene unfold, several other students shyly moved to stand with them, until every young creature but one stood behind the couple. Even Thatch's gang joined in, although their leader scowled at the abandonment, watching from the sidelines with interest. The teachers began to arrive, until all of the staff had gathered together, watching with Thatch (They didn't dare get themselves fired) and mentally cheering the two students on, as Ashia and Kibosh argued back and forth.

"...ASHIA MARIE KYRIER, LISTEN TO ME!"

"No, YOU listen! I CAN'T marry him! I LOVE WOLFIE!"

"_**WHAT?**_"

"Yeah! GO ASHIA!"

"Go get 'em, Wolf Girl!"

"Show 'em how it's done!" That was Dummygirl, surprisingly.

"Yeah!"

"Go!"

"Wolfie! Ashia! Wolfie! Ashia!" Chanted some kids, which got them all going.

"...That's right! I'm not YOURS to give away, Uncle K! You can't FORCE me onto another path in life! I REFUSE TO BE TREATED LIKE A MINDLESS, EXCHANGABLE OBJECT ANY LONGER! I _**WON'T**_ DO IT! I don't love Griffinheart!" She screamed.

"It doesn't matter! Creatures could be destroyed if you refuse! Thousands of families could be doomed to the same fate as YOURS if you don't do this!"

"I... There has to be a way!"

"Trick him," Wolfie muttered softly, and all grew silent.

"How?" Ashia asked in the same tone. At first, the clever but timid werewolf was silent, but then...

"His people have what they want... The only threat is him... We just need him to THINK he's getting what he wants... Get him to sign the official papers, make his speech to his people, etc. and then, he won't be needed anymore! Kibosh can send him straight to prison,"

"But he won't let it happen! The contract signed will require his protection and Ashia's hand in marriage. Griffinheart is no fool. He knows what he's doing," Kibosh pointed out grimly. "I'll gladly do all I can, but I have to put the good of the Underworld before the good of myself and my family!"

"He might not notice if Ashia commands his attention, and what do you think will happen if Griffinheart marries INTO your family? That puts him in the perfect position to start this entire issue up again!"

"...I... I... You're RIGHT! He could demand the UNDERWORLD next time!"

"So you'll help us, Uncle K?" Ashia asked hopefully, giving Kibosh the kind of look he hadn't seen for quite a while now. He smiled.

"Who am I to stand in the way of love?"

Everyone (Even Thatch!) cheered, but none were louder than the howl of a certain werewolf and the cry of a certain hybrid vampiress, both of which stood side by side, hand in paw, for the first time before their peers, no need to hide it any longer.

~~~A Week Later~~~

Joey tapped his shadowy fingers against the long table impatiently. He hated waiting. It was why he had decided to speed this up! He grumbled quietly to himself...

"When I'm King of the Underworld, they'll DIE for making me wait!" He sighed, and checked his watch.

Joey Griffinheart was a nightwalker, a shadowman, humanoid but fearsome. His flesh was made up of constantly moving shadows, and his body was tall and lean, flexible as the shadows he was born to, and as the shadows they themselves had descended from. He had icy light blue eyes and short, silver hair, which he ran his fingers through with a sigh. His clothing was comprised entirely of a tight fitting grey T-shirt and a pair of jeans, no shoes or socks to be seen. But then, a nightwalker of either gender had no need for such things when they did nothing more than limit their shadow jumping abilities.

At long last, two figures appeared through the wall to the meeting room, Kibosh himself, and his pretty little niece. Joey grinned at the sight of her, and much to his surprise, she grinned back. This pleased him visibly as he smirked in Kibosh direction, whom had a queer look on his face bordering on fear, anger, and embarrassment.

"_So far, so good_," Ashia thought, still smiling sweetly at her betrothed. "_He doesn't suspect anything_,"

"VERY nice, Kibosh, and to think this little beauty is blood related to the likes of you, you fat ugly green hulk," Commented the rebel leader, causing the green ghost to start turning red. Ashia giggled, which was extremely out of character for her, but he didn't know that. Having never gotten to know her personally, he took it as a natural characteristic... He was moron then, she noted in her mind.

"I've brought what you wanted; I've done what you asked... Just sign the papers, Griffinheart!"

"Ah, ah, ah, I'm not stupid, Kibosh! Let's just take a look at those papers, you're bound to have tried something, snitch,"

"But Joey!" Ashia pouted. "That will take too long! I don't like waiting!" She vanished and reappeared beside the creature, batting her eyelashes suggestively.

"Neither do I, darling, but your uncle is against us!"

"Oh, Uncle K would never! And besides..." She leaned in to whisper as though Kibosh wasn't to be aware what she was doing. "...I already went through them,"

"Did you now? And how do I know you aren't lying, love?"

"Don't insult me! Why in the UNDERWORLD would I do THAT?" She cried. As if to prove her point, Ashia reached into her pocket and produced the I.M.P. Once it was activated and unfolded, she brought up the computer screen and set out to "prove" herself. "You see, I scanned the papers by hand and ran in through the scanner here; there's no possible way that Uncle K could have slipped something into your contract," She informed him matter-of-factly. Joey looked both interested, amused, and impressed.

"She IS a brilliant little star, isn't she? Absolutely _fabulous_!" The shadowman clasped his hands enthusiastically and they began. Ashia sat beside her betrothed and kept him preoccupied, toying with his hair and flirting as best she could. Unfortunately, he kept his head enough to demand to see the papers himself. And so Plan B was set into motion.

"Here you are, Griffinheart. I assure you, there are no tricks to speak of,"

"Excellent, we'll see if that's the truth," Joey took the papers and scanned through them, never realizing that the pages he held were decoys. Ashia held the real papers, and she knew what to do. When he was satisfied and prepared to sign in the appropriate spot, she jumped to stop him.

"Hold on, there could still be something! You know the trick with lemon juice, right? And other things?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's clever thinking, sweetie! Check it over for me, will you dearest?"

"But of course!' She giggled, feeling more nauseous with each passing minute. She placed the papers into the I.M.P and typed furiously, knowing there was no room for mistake. Deep within the machine, the vortex placed the fake document into an entirely new dimensional plain. It then flashed, and switched to another time and place, pulling out the real contract, with an extra, crucial paragraph added to the middle. After a moment or two, Ashia beamed brightly.

"All done!" She announced. "Nothing. It's all perfectly safe. I told you I went through it, what kind of imbecile do you take me for?" She flipped to the last page, and handed them to Griffinheart, who accepted graciously.

"Thank you, you're right, I should have known your uncle was too cowardly to try anything!" Both laughed, and Kibosh was shaking with rage, but he knew he couldn't mess things up at this point. Both Kyriers held their breathes as Griffinheart took his time in signing the contract. He then stood up, took Ashia by the hand, and led her out. Kibosh followed behind. The cream colored walls were too plain and boring for her taste, so Ashia was NOT a happy vampiress during this time, stuck with her hand in Griffinheart's, yet she kept a smile plastered on her face at all times.

"...Is it working?" Asked Mantha and Ra as one.

"Yeah, it's definitely worked," Casper assured them. "Wolfie, are you okay?"

"No," Whined the werewolf, cowering in the corner. He had only watched a small bit of Ashia's performance before losing it. "How? Just, HOW? That moron, he doesn't know her at all, and yet he has the nerve to force her into marriage! The creep!..."

"No ranting, you KNOW what's happening!"

"...Do I have to like it?"

"Deal with it. She's doing it for you, you know,"

"..."

With Ashia, she was lead out onto an enormous platform, which was surrounded by _thousands_ of _millions_ of creatures! Her breath caught; THAT was what they had been up against this whole time? She had known the army was large, but... It was COLOSSAL!

Joey raised both their hands high for all to see, which was especially annoying because he was older and taller, and Ashia wound up having to hover above the ground a ways to keep her arm in it's socket. Either he didn't notice or he didn't care.

A cheer rose up from the crowds; apparently, she was very symbolic to them. How touching. _Not_!

"Our wishes have been fulfilled!" Shouted Griffinheart, and the cheers grew louder. "We have fought long and hard, and our efforts have paid off! Kibosh, leader of the Underworld, has succumbed to our might and met every last _one_ of our demands! WE will run this world forever more! No more cowering and simply "obeying" the rules this tyrant makes! If we so wish it, we CAN override his will! WE are the true Kings and Queens of the Underworld!" Ashia herself was almost sucked into the speech. What he said sounded right, sounded fair, sounded just... But then, not all of his demands had been legit in her mind. The people did not seem to notice, but they were STILL being lead by yet ANOTHER tyrant... Just a more persuasive, charismatic, and manipulative one than the previous. Nonetheless, the enormous rebel army crowd roared and screeched with enthusiasm and agreement. They were joyful; but they truly had no idea that they were being herded like sheep.

"_He's good,_" Ashia thought to herself. "_Which is what makes him so dangerous,_"

When the speech was given to completion, Joey led her away once more... But this time, it was HE who had no idea what was to happen next!

"Well, it looks as though you've lost this round," Kibosh glared at the grinning nightwalker.

"Not so much as you might think,"

"Come now; there's no way you could have slipped something past me with your niece on my side! Isn't that right, sweetest?"

"The game's over, Griffinheart. And believe it or not, you're the one out of luck," Joey continued to smirk in victory. His grip, however, tightened further, cutting off Ashia's circulation and causing the flesh to itch and crawl, tingling for loss of blood and oxygen. She turned intangible to regain feeling in her fingers, and as she did so, returned to her uncle's side for the first time in a long, _long_ time.

Wolfie, Casper, Mantha, and Ra finally revealed themselves at this moment. The shadow man's eyes narrowed and though his expression did not show it, his body language screamed shock and insecurity.

"This is what you read..." Mantha announced, holding up the fake document.

"...And **this** is what you signed!" Ra finished a little meanly, holding up the real papers. Kibosh took them and flipped to the 3rd page.

"Ahem... 'However, if either party does not give consent for a wedding to take place, and the unwilling participant has an acceptably legit reason for their objection, this contract shall be rendered void on terms that it has the potential to be harmful and destruction to the lives or unlives of any and all creatures the Underworld contains,'"

"And what about my people?" Snarled the opposing creature.

"They'll get what they asked for. But you... You'll have to live without,"

"And what "legit reason" does she bear for this rejection?"

"She has me," Wolfie offered, putting an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder.

"This... This isn't fair! I DEMAND my requirements be met! Do you hear me? I DEMAND it!" Stretch, Fatso, and Stinky arrived quickly to drag him (still screaming demands) towards prison. Or rather, Stretch and Stinky did while Fatso gave a small paper card to Kibosh.

"Ghost Brothers Enemy Arrest?"

"We were police when we were alive... Until we got caught,"

Casper shook his head with an exasperated sigh, and everyone had to laugh.

~~~Days Later~~~

Not much happened after the big "conquest." Some of the people who had followed Griffinheart were enraged to find out that he had been arrested, but without their full numbers and their leader, they were far less a threat then they had been previously. Still a threat nonetheless, however, so Kibosh was kept busy dealing with them, as his niece returned to Scare School with her friends and boyfriend.

Ashia also noticed a change in Wolfie; no more stuttering and uncertainty, at least very often. He'd gained some confidence in the ordeal. Well, the saying did apply; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

But there was _**one**_ matter they had yet to resolve...

Ashia swung the prized amulet back and forth before herself, watching its pendulum movements as though trying to hypnotize herself. She was actually contemplating the still present hole in the medallion, not the amulet itself. Why was it still there? Her recent decisions had been immense! Nothing had gone wrong, either. Hmm, maybe it had to, to be effective...

"Why hasn't it been completed?" She sighed. "With all the life decisions I've made, why? Haven't I done the right thing?" She whimpered.

"The size of the decision shouldn't matter; it's the effect on your life that creates the gem, isn't it?"

"Well... yeah..."

"Maybe there's still something left undecided,"

"..." She thought about that in silence for several minutes. Finally she heaved a dramatic sigh. "You're probably right; but I don't know what it could be..."

"What else do you need to figure out?"

"I said I don't know!"

"I was just trying to help! Maybe... It has to do with your parents?"

"What about them?"

"Do you still blame yourself for their deaths?"

"I... I know I'm not supposed to, it's just... I was _there_, I should have _done_ something!"

"You couldn't, and that's not your fault!"

"I probably should let it go..." She sniffed. "There is something I could do that might help; I... Guess I could visit... The graves,"

"I'll go with you," Wolfie offered, and she smiled.

"Thanks. I haven't been there for hundreds of years!"

~~~A week after~~~

Ashia and Wolfie tread along the worn stone pathway through the graveyard. The cemetery was located just behind the vampiress' former abode, which she had also not visited in a while. They had not gone far when she turned back anxiously.

"I want to go inside first," She announced. "There are... A lot of memories in that old place," Wolfie just nodded, and followed her to the entrance.

They wandered seemingly aimlessly through the myriad of rooms and hallways, Ashia moving slowly as she soaked in the details. This was where she was born and raised; she was given birth to here and had been brought up happily, until the incident.

"What happened here?" The male was not answered.

They had entered an empty room that appeared to have been blanched white and splashed with various neon colors. Gemstones hung from the ceiling on strong threads, casting prisms of vibrant colored light across the walls. Ashia touched her fingertips gently to the surface, a soft smile playing on her lips.

"This is the result of _my_ early attempts to capture moonlight... it failed ultimately, but the aftermath was... Interesting," She traced the outline of one of the color splashes, and walked back out.

"This was my room..."

"...This is where my parents slept..."

"The guest room, where Sara used to sleep when she visited overnight..."

"...This... Was my sister's. This room belonged to Trililly..." A single acidic tear ran down her cheek, and she brushed it away hurriedly.

"I thought you were here for the graves?" Kibosh interrupted from behind. The pair jumped, having forgotten that they had brought him along.

"I am... But, maybe we could do this tomorrow..."

She was promptly dragged out to the cemetery against her will.

"...Or not,"

"Where are they?"

"The northeastern side," Uncle K informed him, his niece still fuming at her rough treatment. Wolfie nodded, and they made their way towards the tombstones.

They all three shared the same large grave, an inverted cross rising high above all the surrounding stones. Carved into in silver letters was an epitaph Ashia herself had written...

_In loving memory_

_ of the greatest parents_

_ and sweetest_

_ sibling one could ever_

_ ask for._

_ We love you._

_ R.I.P_

She had felt compelled to add the R.I.P, wanting her deceased family members to be happy wherever they were, even though she doubted it made a difference for them what she wrote on an elaborate, expensive rock above their old, decaying skulls.

Ugh. Don't think about that now.

Kneeling down before the cross like it was an alter, she placed her hands on the stone and sent a prayer her parents way. She also forced herself to speak to them, in her mind. It probably didn't matter, if they were in that, "wonderfully awful place in the sky," she didn't figure her life made a difference to them.

_I stayed strong for you Dad; I swear I'll make you proud._

_ I tried to do what was right, Mom, I really did. Was I okay?_

_ Trililly... I promised to let you know first whenever I went out. Well, this is belated but... I've got a boyfriend. That would have made you happy, right?_

_ I love you. All of you._

The whole time her companions heard nothing but silence, but they waited patiently. She needed privacy for this. Denial had not allowed her to heal over her centuries long lifespan. And a day often seemed the same as a hundred years to the girl, particularly when she was not human and did not age like one.

_Ashia..._

Her eyes snapped open, heart pounding. Was that...?

_Ash!_

It was, it had to be!

_We're still here, sweetie. And we always will be!_

"I'm sorry I let you die," She choked aloud. Wolfie and Kibosh exchanged looks.

_You didn't let us, you couldn't even help us!_ Trililly quickly scolded._ It doesn't help us any to watch you suffer. Just let it go, Ash. For us. For me!_

"I can't let it go..." She whispered under her breath.

_You can. I know you will. You make me a proud father everyday, for I am still and will always be with you._

_ The right thing can be hard, but remember... You're just as stubborn as the rest of us!_

_ And you really should've told me sooner. Even though I already knew._

She laughed. Recovery could finally begin, and she felt much better now. She would always feel responsible for their deaths... But it was the least she could do to live on for their sake. It didn't matter that the voices were probably figments of her imagination. They still mattered to her, and she had to respect their words.

_I did it you guys. I found the trick to moonlight!_

_ We know; and we're very proud!_

_ But... I don't know... There's something more I've got to do..._

She reached up, unclasped the amulet, and with some concentration forced it to grow intangible with her hand. It was easier said than done, sometimes she got objects stuck into walls or floors midway. But this time she encountered no problems burying the blessing under the earth. When she withdrew her palm was empty.

"Ashia... Your amulet isn't finished yet..."

"It doesn't need to be; I'm happy just the way I am," She smiled and took off, clutching Wolfie's shoulders in her silver talons. It wasn't the first time a bat had carried him. And it most definitely wouldn't be the last.

_Withstand the storm._

_ I did, and I couldn't be more glad._

(**I have about 5 immediate excuses ready for how long this took, and an army of little reasons... But all I'm really going to say is this chapter gave me a bad case of Writer's Block, and I'm depressed. Not from the story, of course, but from a series of bad events previously in my life. I've had it for years looking back, but it's just begun to fester and it's not only worsening my natural insomnia but stealing the joy out of my writing. Which sucks. Big time.**

** Sorry but I've got no one else to rant to. =/**

**cant think of a name right now: Haha, he does hate humiliation with a passion! I'll probably torture him in the future, just because I love him so much. ;)**

**...And he wouldn't be Thatch if he didn't mess with people. All. The time!**

**Sophie: You had some very good suggestions, but I'd already started the chapter when I got them. I appreciated the input though! I was actually quite close to rewriting it with him as a goblin! =P)**


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